Asked by: Chuka Umunna (Liberal Democrat - Streatham)
Question to the Department for Exiting the European Union :
To ask the Secretary of State for Exiting the European Union, what additional procedures companies will face in order to trade between Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland in the event that the UK leaves the EU without a deal; and whether those procedures will be different to procedures at any other UK border.
Answered by James Duddridge
The Government is steadfast in our commitment to the Belfast Agreement and will do everything in our power to ensure no return to a hard border between Northern Ireland and Ireland.
On 13 March, the UK Government announced a unilateral approach to checks, processes and tariffs for trade moving from Ireland to Northern Ireland. This policy aims to retain the status quo as far as possible by doing all we can to avoid a hard border. This approach is strictly temporary.
The UK Government will not introduce any new checks or controls on goods crossing from Ireland to Northern Ireland, including any new customs declarations for nearly all goods. The UK temporary tariff regime would therefore not apply to goods crossing from Ireland into Northern Ireland.
We would need to apply a small number of measures strictly necessary to comply with international legal obligations, protect the biosecurity of the island of Ireland, or to avoid the highest risks to Northern Ireland businesses - but these measures would not require checks at the border. Expressly:
Businesses pay VAT and Excise on goods from Ireland today and the UK Government would continue to collect these taxes on Irish goods in future. Small businesses trading across the border and not currently VAT registered would be able to report VAT online periodically without any new processes at the border. Traders would need to make electronic declarations for excise goods.
To protect human, animal, and plant health, animals and animal products from countries outside the EU would need to enter Northern Ireland through a designated entry point and regulated plant material from outside the EU and high risk EU plant material would require certification. Plants and plant products which have not been previously checked by an EU Member state would need to be pre-notified before arriving in the UK and checked at authorised inland trade premises.
To fulfil essential international obligations, there would be new UK import requirements such as checks on documents or registration for a very limited set of goods, such as endangered species and hazardous chemicals. This would not involve any infrastructure or checks at the border including in Northern Ireland.
Because these are unilateral measures, they only mitigate the impact of exit that are within the UK Government’s control. These measures do not set out the position in respect of tariffs or processes to be applied to goods moving from Northern Ireland to Ireland. The Irish Government has so far not set out their position on the procedures for goods moving across the land border from Northern Ireland to Ireland.
In a no deal scenario, we are committed to entering into discussions urgently with the European Commission and the Irish Government to jointly agree long-term measures to avoid a hard border.
Asked by: Chuka Umunna (Liberal Democrat - Streatham)
Question to the Department for Exiting the European Union :
To ask the Secretary of State for Exiting the European Union, what the means of (a) resolution and (b) redress will be for a UK company in dispute with an EU company in the event that the UK leaves the EU without a deal.
Answered by James Duddridge
The UK will be leaving the EU on the 31 October - whatever the circumstances. We would, of course, prefer to leave with a deal and we will work in an energetic and determined way to get that better deal. But if that is not possible we will have to leave with no deal, and we are turbocharging our all necessary preparations to do so.
In a no deal scenario, UK businesses will continue to be able to seek dispute resolution and redress through national courts, including those of Member States where they have jurisdiction. The route of redress and dispute resolution will depend on the particular facts of the case. Courts will continue to process relevant cases in line with their normal management of business, and relevant legislation.
Asked by: Chuka Umunna (Liberal Democrat - Streatham)
Question to the Department for Exiting the European Union :
To ask the Secretary of State for Exiting the European Union, when will companies know which (a) regulator will be overseeing their business and (b) which rules will they will need to follow from the day after the UK leaves the EU; and whether the Government plans to charge businesses for the creation of new regulatory agencies in the UK in the event that the UK leaves the EU without a deal.
Answered by James Duddridge
We must leave the EU on October 31 whatever the circumstances. To do otherwise would cause a catastrophic loss of confidence in our political system. We still wish to leave with a deal if we can and hope the EU will negotiate accordingly.
No decision has been reached on our future relationship with the EU's agencies and bodies after we have left. We are considering very carefully a range of options. In most cases we anticipate that repatriated EU functions can be absorbed by existing UK departments and existing public bodies. The EU (Withdrawal) Act 2018 will preserve the laws that we have made to implement our EU obligations and convert EU law which applies directly to the UK before exit. It will ensure that there is a functioning statute book on day one of exit providing certainty for business in a no deal scenario.
Prior to any decisions on establishing new UK-level bodies, the Government always looks to minimise disruption and costs, which includes considering alternative options, such as the use of existing public bodies.
Asked by: Chuka Umunna (Liberal Democrat - Streatham)
Question to the Department for Exiting the European Union :
To ask the Secretary of State for Exiting the European Union, which parts of the Government’s plan for the guarantee of EU-Funded programmes in the event that the UK leaves the EU without a deal (a) have and (b) have not been implemented.
Answered by James Cleverly - Home Secretary
In the event that the UK leaves the EU without a deal, the Government has guaranteed EU Programme funding due to UK organisations.
Departments have well-developed contingency plans to implement this guarantee, if required. I refer the Hon. Member to the technical notices published by the Government on the guarantee. Departments have drafted the individual notices setting out how this guarantee will operate for specific programmes.
Asked by: Chuka Umunna (Liberal Democrat - Streatham)
Question to the Department for Exiting the European Union :
To ask the Secretary of State for Exiting the European Union, which parts of the Government’s plan for British Overseas Territories funding in the event that the UK leaves the EU without a deal (a) have and (b) have not been implemented.
Answered by Robin Walker
In the event of the UK leaving the EU without a deal, the Government has guaranteed funding for specific EU projects received by the Overseas Territories, in line with the technical notice published on this issue. Departments are working to ensure the guarantee is ready to be implemented if required. I refer the hon. member to the technical notices published by the Government on the guarantee and the funds covered by it for further details.
Asked by: Chuka Umunna (Liberal Democrat - Streatham)
Question to the Department for Exiting the European Union :
To ask the Secretary of State for Exiting the European Union, how many technical notices on ensuring that citizens and businesses have the information they require to prepare for the UK leaving the EU have been withdrawn; and for what reasons have those notices been withdrawn.
Answered by Robin Walker
The Department for Exiting the European Union coordinated the initial publication of 106 Technical Notices between July and September 2018. Departments are responsible for their own Technical Notices, including deciding if they should be withdrawn and the reasons why.
Asked by: Chuka Umunna (Liberal Democrat - Streatham)
Question to the Department for Exiting the European Union :
To ask the Secretary of State for Exiting the European Union, how many of the 10,000 civil servants recently hired from the Treasury’s allocation of £2 billion were hired into (a) HMRC, (b) the Treasury and (c) the Departments for (i) International Trade and (ii) Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy.
Answered by Chris Heaton-Harris - Secretary of State for Northern Ireland
The Department for Exiting the EU does not hold this information as it would be held by individual departments.
Asked by: Chuka Umunna (Liberal Democrat - Streatham)
Question to the Department for Exiting the European Union :
To ask the Secretary of State for Exiting the European Union, pursuant to the Answer of 5 November 2018 to Question 185596, how many EU member states have agreed that the UK will be treated as a Member State for the purposes of international agreements during the implementation period.
Answered by Kwasi Kwarteng
The draft Withdrawal Agreement provides, at article 7, that all references to Member States and competent authorities of Member States in provisions of Union law made applicable by the agreement shall be understood as including the UK and its competent authorities during the implementation period (subject to the exceptions provided for in article 7). The asterisk to article 129 of the draft Agreement further foresees that the EU will notify treaty partners that the UK is treated as a Member State for the purposes of international agreements during the implementation period. The draft Withdrawal Agreement was signed off by the Member States at November European Council.
Asked by: Chuka Umunna (Liberal Democrat - Streatham)
Question to the Department for Exiting the European Union :
To ask the Secretary of State for Exiting the European Union, with reference to the more than 750 agreements with more than 168 countries in which the UK participates as an EU member, how many agreements the EU has informed third countries the UK is to continue participating in during the transition period; how many countries have agreed to each of those more than 750 agreements; what oversight the UK has of that process; and whether the Government is taking steps to secure agreement on rolling over those deals with those countries.
Answered by Kwasi Kwarteng
We value our international agreements and want to continue to cooperate in key global issues such as air services, trade, climate change, international development and nuclear cooperation. We have agreed with the EU that they will notify treaty partners that, during the implementation period, the UK is to be treated as a Member State for the purposes of its international agreements. This approach provides a basis for continuity across all relevant agreements.
A number of third countries (including Canada, Chile, Israel, Switzerland, South Africa, and Singapore) have welcomed the focus on delivering continuity into the implementation period. Countries are understandably waiting for the notification to be issued by the EU before they are able to confirm their clear agreement, and we are continuing to engage with them.
We are also engaging with our international partners in order to put in place arrangements that will come into force following the implementation period, and are making good progress with this work.
Asked by: Chuka Umunna (Liberal Democrat - Streatham)
Question to the Department for Exiting the European Union :
To ask the Secretary of State for Exiting the European Union, with reference to Article 127 of the 1994 European Economic Area (EEA) Agreement, whether the Government has given the twelve months’ written notice to the other Contracting Parties of its intention to withdraw from that Agreement.
Answered by Suella Braverman
The Government's legal position on this question remains unchanged: Article 127 does not need to be triggered for the European Economic Area (EEA) Agreement to cease to have effect. In the absence of any further action, the EEA Agreement will no longer operate in respect of the UK when we leave the EU. We do not consider, therefore, that providing written notice to the other Contracting Parties under Article 127 of the EEA Agreement is necessary.
We agreed with the EU at March European Council that they will notify third parties that the UK will be treated as a Member State for the purposes of international agreements during the implementation period. This includes the EEA Agreement.