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
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.