Asked by: Priti Patel (Conservative - Witham)
Question to the Department for Exiting the European Union :
To ask the Secretary of State for Exiting the European Union, whether he had advanced sight of the European Council statement on a future UK-EU fisheries agreement based on exiting reciprocal access and quota share when she approved the UK-EU Withdrawal Agreement and Political Declaration.
Answered by Chris Heaton-Harris
The Political Declaration makes clear that both the EU and the UK will use their 'best endeavours' to conclude a future fisheries agreement by 1 July 2020. The European Council statement sets out the EU’s view of their position, but ultimately access to our waters will be a matter for negotiation.
We remain committed to getting the best deal for the whole of the UK fishing industry, including a fair share of quotas. A Government amendment has been made to the Fisheries Bill placing a legal obligation on the Government, when negotiating a fisheries agreement with the EU, to pursue a greater share of fishing opportunities (looked at in the round) than the UK currently receives under the Common Fisheries Policy.
Asked by: Priti Patel (Conservative - Witham)
Question to the Department for Exiting the European Union :
To ask the Secretary of State for Exiting the European Union, at how many (a) official level and (b) ministerial level meetings between the Government and the EU the Northern Ireland backstop has been discussed; and who has attended each meeting.
Answered by Robin Walker
Negotiations between the UK and EU were ongoing throughout last year. These negotiations involved both officials and Ministers. They included discussions about setting out a legally operative backstop, as part of the Government’s commitment to avoiding a hard border between Northern Ireland and Ireland, and as set out in the December 2017 Joint Report.
The outcome of those discussions is reflected in the draft Withdrawal Agreement laid before Parliament on 26 November. This guarantees that in the event that the UK’s future relationship with the EU is not in place by the end of the implementation period, there will be no hard border between Northern Ireland and Ireland, while maintaining the economic and constitutional integrity of the UK.
As the Government has made clear, however, this would be an insurance policy that neither the UK nor the EU expects to use. We fully expect to bring into force our future relationship or alternative arrangements, which would guarantee no hard border on a permanent basis, by the end of the Implementation Period that the Withdrawal Agreement provides.
Asked by: Priti Patel (Conservative - Witham)
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 3 December 2018 to Question 194189 on EU External Relations, if he will set out the (a) agreements and (b) acquisitions which are affected by Article 129 of the EU Withdrawal Agreement and the requirement on the UK to refrain from acting in a manner deemed to be prejudicial to the Union's interests.
Answered by Kwasi Kwarteng
As article 129(1) of the Withdrawal Agreement makes clear, the UK will continue to be bound by obligations arising from our international agreements during the implementation period. We have agreed with the EU that they will notify treaty partners that the UK is to be treated as a Member State for the purposes of its international agreements with third countries during this period. The notification is intended to cover international agreements as defined in the Withdrawal Agreement - international agreements concluded by the Union, by Member States acting on its behalf, or by the Union and its Member States acting jointly.
In accordance with the principle of sincere cooperation, the UK has committed during the implementation period, to refrain from any action or initiative which is likely to be prejudicial to the Union’s interests. In particular in the framework of any international organisation, agency, conference or forum of which the UK is a party in its own right. This will not prevent the UK from negotiating, signing and ratifying new international agreements to come into force after the Implementation Period, even where the subject matter of those agreements would ordinarily be within the exclusive competence of the Union.
Asked by: Priti Patel (Conservative - Witham)
Question to the Department for Exiting the European Union :
To ask the Secretary of State for Exiting the European Union, if he will list all outstanding infraction proceedings which the EU is pursuing against the UK; and what estimate he has made of the potential resultant costs to the public purse from those proceedings.
Answered by Chris Heaton-Harris
The UK has 64 open infraction cases at present.
Full details of all open infraction cases are publically available on the European Commission's ‘Infringement Decisions’ website.
The UK has never previously been fined in relation to an infraction case and continues to engage constructively in the EU’s infraction process.
Asked by: Priti Patel (Conservative - Witham)
Question to the Department for Exiting the European Union :
To ask the Secretary of State for Exiting the European Union, whether he has received a commitment from the EU that future arrangements for fisheries between the UK and the EU will not be linked to the future UK-EU economic partnership.
Answered by Chris Heaton-Harris
The Political Declaration is clear. The UK and the EU have agreed that a fisheries agreement should be established on, amongst other things, access to waters and quota shares. Consistent with the Withdrawal Agreement, the Political Declaration also states that the UK and the EU have agreed to aim to conclude this agreement by 1 July 2020.
We have firmly rejected a link between access to our waters and access to markets. The fisheries agreement is not something we will be trading off against any other priorities.
Asked by: Priti Patel (Conservative - Witham)
Question to the Department for Exiting the European Union :
To ask the Secretary of State for Exiting the European Union, with reference to the publications entitled, Political Declaration setting out the framework for the future relationship between the European Union and the United Kingdom and Draft Agreement on the withdrawal of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland from the European Union and the European Atomic Energy Community, what (a) primary and (b) secondary legislation will be required to facilitate the measures contained in relation to the jurisdiction of the Court of Justice of the European Union.
Answered by Kwasi Kwarteng
The Government has secured a deal which takes back control of our laws; it ends the jurisdiction of the CJEU in the UK and instead means our laws being made in our Parliaments, enforced by our courts.
There will be a limited and clearly defined role for the CJEU as set out in the Withdrawal Agreement. The EU (Withdrawal Agreement) Bill will implement the Withdrawal Agreement in UK law.
Asked by: Priti Patel (Conservative - Witham)
Question to the Department for Exiting the European Union :
To ask the Secretary of State for Exiting the European Union, with reference to the publications entitled, Political Declaration setting out the framework for the future relationship between the European Union and the United Kingdom and Draft Agreement on the withdrawal of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland from the European Union and the European Atomic Energy Community, what (a) primary and (b) secondary legislation will be required to facilitate the measures in relation to the jurisdiction of the Court of Justice of the European Union.
Answered by Kwasi Kwarteng
The Government has secured a deal which takes back control of our laws; it ends the jurisdiction of the CJEU in the UK and instead means our laws being made in our Parliaments, enforced by our courts.
There will be a limited and clearly defined role for the CJEU as set out in the Withdrawal Agreement. The EU (Withdrawal Agreement) Bill will implement the Withdrawal Agreement in UK law.
Asked by: Priti Patel (Conservative - Witham)
Question to the Department for Exiting the European Union :
To ask the Secretary of State for Exiting the European Union, with reference to the publications entitled, Political Declaration setting out the framework for the future relationship between the European Union and the United Kingdom and the Draft Agreement on the withdrawal of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland from the European Union and the European Atomic Energy Community, what future (a) legislation, (b) directives, (c) rules and (d) other instructions the EU plans to introduce which will have an effect on the UK from 29 March 2019.
Answered by Chris Heaton-Harris
During the time-limited implementation period, common rules will remain in place with EU law continuing to apply in the UK subject to the terms set out in the Withdrawal Agreement.
After the implementation period, all laws in the UK will be passed by our elected representatives in Belfast, Cardiff, Edinburgh and London. The Political Declaration recognises that the UK may choose to align with the EU’s rules in relevant areas to facilitate trade in goods or security cooperation.
Were the backstop to come into effect, a small fraction of EU rules applying today would apply in Northern Ireland and EU rules on state aid would apply in the UK. However, as the Withdrawal Agreement and the Political Declaration make absolutely clear, we do not want or expect the backstop to be needed - and even if it ever were ever to come into effect, it would be strictly temporary.
The Official Journal of the European Union publishes upcoming EU legislation, this is publicly available online: https://eur-lex.europa.eu/oj/direct-access.html.