Asked by: Chuka Umunna (Liberal Democrat - Streatham)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what parts of the Government’s plan for satellites and space programmes in the event of a no deal Brexit have been implemented.
Answered by Lord Johnson of Marylebone
The Government remains focused on ensuring a smooth and orderly withdrawal from the EU with a negotiated agreement. However, as a responsible Government, we have actively prepared for every eventuality, including a ‘No Deal’ scenario.
The technical notice published by the Government on satellites and space programmes, set out information to allow the space sector to understand what actions would be required in a ‘No Deal’ scenario. The UK Space Agency are developing options to maintain UK capability and support the space sector, including the assessment of options for the design and development of a UK global satellite navigation system as a potential alternative to the EU’s Galileo space programme.
Asked by: Chuka Umunna (Liberal Democrat - Streatham)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, with reference to the Guidance on how to prepare for Brexit if there's no deal, published by the Department for Exiting the European Union, what parts of the plan for patents in the event that the UK leaves the EU without a deal have been implemented.
Answered by Lord Johnson of Marylebone
As set out in the technical notice, the Government’s primary goal is to ensure that the UK patent system continues to function effectively in the event of a no deal exit. This requires a small amount of legislative change. In February 2019, Parliament approved the Patents (Amendment) (EU Exit) Regulations 2019, which corrected deficiencies in retained EU law relating to patents. The Government has since published guidance for business on these changes. It continues to engage with stakeholders on the impacts of exit and preparation for a no deal scenario.
A further statutory instrument is required to address inoperabilities in a new piece of patents-related EU legislation which entered into force earlier this month. A public call for views on the drafting of this instrument opened on 5 July 2019.
Asked by: Chuka Umunna (Liberal Democrat - Streatham)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, with reference to the Guidance on how to prepare for Brexit if there's no deal, published by the Department for Exiting the European Union, what parts of the plan for trademarks and design in the event that the UK leaves the EU without a deal have been implemented.
Answered by Lord Johnson of Marylebone
The main plank of preparation for no deal was legislation to ensure the continued protection of registered EU trade marks and designs, and to correct deficiencies in, and failures of, retained EU law to ensure it operates effectively after the United Kingdom leaves the European Union.
Parliament approved the Trade Marks (Amendment etc.) (EU Exit) Regulations, and the Designs and International Trade Marks (Amendment etc.) (EU Exit) Regulations earlier this year. The Government has since published further guidance for businesses and consumers. It continues to engage with stakeholders on the impacts of exit and preparation for a no deal scenario.
The IPO has also completed a significant programme of work to ensure that its systems are ready to accommodate the additional requirements resulting from the legislation.
Asked by: Chuka Umunna (Liberal Democrat - Streatham)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, with reference to his Department's Guidance on how to prepare for Brexit if there's no deal, which parts of the Government’s plan for geo-blocking online content in the event that the UK leaves the EU without a deal have been implemented.
Answered by Lord Johnson of Marylebone
The Government’s plan for geo-blocking online content in the event that the UK leaves the EU without a deal has been implemented through the Geo-Blocking Regulation (Revocation) (EU Exit) Regulations 2019, which were made on 18 April 2019. These Regulations will come into effect on Exit Day as defined in the European Union (Withdrawal) Act 2018, section 20.
Guidance for businesses has also been published, in the form of the following technical notice: ‘Geo-blocking of online content if there’s no Brexit deal’. This was published on 12 October 2018 and is available at this link:
https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/geo-blocking-of-online-content-if-theres-no-brexit-deal.
Asked by: Chuka Umunna (Liberal Democrat - Streatham)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, with reference to his Department's Guidance on how to prepare for Brexit if there's no deal, which parts of the Government’s plan for nuclear research in the event that the UK leaves the EU without a deal have been implemented.
Answered by Lord Johnson of Marylebone
The Government has taken significant steps to protect UK leadership in nuclear R&D in the event of a no deal.
Key bilateral agreements have been put in place to facilitate continued research collaboration with countries including Canada and the USA, and a major funding extension (until the end of 2020) for the UK-based JET fusion research facility has been agreed with the European Commission. Similarly, the executive council of the France-based ITER fusion project agreed in November 2018 to maintain UK employment and commercial contracts until their agreed end date in a no deal.
Successful, competitive UK funding bids submitted under the Euratom Research & Training Programme before the end of 2020 have also been guaranteed by the UK Government, and close working with UK Research and Innovation (UKRI) is ongoing to ensure we are ready to deliver this funding from exit day if required.
Asked by: Chuka Umunna (Liberal Democrat - Streatham)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, with reference to the Guidance on how to prepare for Brexit if there's no deal, published by the Department for Exiting the European Union, what parts of the plan for copyright in the event of a no deal Brexit have been implemented.
Answered by Lord Johnson of Marylebone
Copyright is largely harmonised internationally by a number of treaties to which the UK is signatory. This means that much of the copyright framework in the UK is not dependent on membership of the EU and will remain intact when we leave.
However, some UK copyright law is derived from the EU copyright framework; hence there are references in UK law to the “EU”, the “EEA”, and “Member States”. Some of these references arise from the UK’s implementation of certain EU cross-border copyright mechanisms. These are unique to the EU and provide reciprocal protections and benefits between Member States, covering areas such as cross-border portability of online content services, sui generis database rights, and copyright clearance for satellite broadcasting.
To ensure UK copyright law functions properly if the UK leaves the EU without a deal, the Government introduced The Intellectual Property (Copyright and Related Rights) (Amendment) (EU Exit) Regulations 2019. This removes or corrects references to the EU, EEA, or Member States in UK copyright legislation to preserve the effect of UK law where possible. For reciprocal cross-border mechanisms where continuing to extend provisions to the EU on a unilateral basis after exit would adversely affect those in the UK, we are limiting the mechanisms to operate on a purely domestic basis or bringing them to an end, as appropriate. Guidance for stakeholders has been published alongside this.
Although the UK is leaving the EU, UK and EU copyright works (e.g. books, films and music) will continue to be protected in the EU and UK respectively because of the international treaties on copyright (e.g. the Berne Convention and the TRIPS Agreement), which require all treaty countries to protect works originating in any other treaty country to a minimum standard. Our participation in these treaties does not depend on our membership of the EU.
Asked by: Chuka Umunna (Liberal Democrat - Streatham)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, with reference to the Guidance on how to prepare for Brexit if there's no deal, published by the Department for Exiting the European Union, what parts of the plan for exhaustion of intellectual property rights in the event of a no deal Brexit have been implemented.
Answered by Lord Johnson of Marylebone
In preparation for a no deal Brexit, the Government prepared secondary legislation to provide for a temporary unilateral EEA exhaustion regime. The Intellectual Property (Exhaustion of Rights) (EU Exit) Regulations 2019 was approved by Parliament in February 2019.
The Government also published guidance, in the form of a technical notice on GOV.UK in September 2018 for businesses and consumers to prepare for a no deal scenario.
The Government continues to engage with stakeholders on this issue in preparation for a possible no deal Brexit.
Asked by: Chuka Umunna (Liberal Democrat - Streatham)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what recent assessment the Government has made of whether businesses will be able to use air travel for the delivery of goods and services immediately after the UK's departure from the EU in the event that the UK leaves the EU without a deal.
Answered by Chris Heaton-Harris - Secretary of State for Northern Ireland
The contingency measures adopted by the EU, including the implementing regulation amendment recognising the UK’s security regime and the reciprocal measures announced by the UK, mean that flights and the movement of cargo and passengers will be able to continue, even in a no deal scenario. Indeed, both the UK and the EU are committed to maintaining connectivity.
Asked by: Chuka Umunna (Liberal Democrat - Streatham)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, with reference to the Guidance on how to prepare for Brexit if there's no deal, published by his Department, what parts of the plan for accounting and audit in the event that the UK leaves the EU without a deal have been implemented.
Answered by Kelly Tolhurst
If the UK leaves the EU without a withdrawal agreement, UK registered auditors will be treated largely as third country auditors in the EEA. Similarly, UK companies will be treated largely as third country companies for accounting and audit purposes. EEA auditors and EEA companies in the UK will also be treated as third country auditors and third country companies in the UK under changes that will be made effective in part through amendments to UK legislation. However, the UK Government has put in place a framework that will allow some continuing market access for EEA auditors to the UK for a limited period in order to provide continuity for businesses in the period following the UK’s exit.
The Government’s technical notice on accounting and audit if there is no Brexit deal sets out the implications of No Deal for businesses operating across the EU/UK border. Almost all the legislative changes referenced in this guidance have been made via:
- the Statutory Auditors and Third Country Auditors (Amendment) (EU Exit) Regulations 2019;
- the Accounts and Reports (Amendment) (EU Exit) Regulations 2019;
- the International Accounting Standards and European Public Limited-Liability Company (Amendment etc.) (EU Exit) Regulations 2019.
Asked by: Chuka Umunna (Liberal Democrat - Streatham)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, with reference to his Department's Guidance on how to prepare for Brexit if there's no deal, what parts of the Government’s plan for generating low-carbon electricity in the event of the UK leaving the EU without a deal have been implemented.
Answered by Kwasi Kwarteng
The Government has passed legislation which will enable the continued operability of the Feed-in Tariffs scheme, Contracts for Difference scheme, and the Renewables Obligation in the event of a no deal exit from the EU.
In the Clean Growth Strategy, government confirmed it would be making up to £557 million (2011/12 prices) of annual support available for further Contracts for Difference, providing industry with the certainty they need to invest in new projects.
The Department’s guidance states that in a no deal scenario, the government has legislated to ensure that Renewable Energy Guarantees of Origin issued in EU countries, including for combined heat and power will continue to be recognised. This will allow electricity suppliers to continue to use EU Renewable Energy Guarantees of Origin and will ensure that existing supply contracts are not compromised, in so far as these contracts depend upon Renewable Energy Guarantees of Origin. This position will be kept under review.