Question to the Department for Exiting the European Union :

To ask the Secretary of State for Exiting the European Union, what assessment he has made of the effect of the terms of the draft Withdrawal Agreement, published in March 2018 on market access in the EU for UK lawyers.

We have made rapid progress on the details of the Withdrawal Agreement and reached agreement on much of the legal text, including on citizens’ rights. As part of this, we have agreed to continue recognising qualifications for residents and frontier workers if their qualifications have been recognised, or are in the process of being recognised, before the end of the implementation period. This includes lawyers practising under host state titles.

There are a number of issues which the Commission deemed to be outside the scope of the negotiations on the Withdrawal Agreement, including important rights such as home title practise for lawyers. Talks on these areas will continue in our negotiations with the EU on the future economic partnership.

The Government is undertaking a wide range of ongoing analysis in support of our EU exit negotiations and preparations. The Government is examining all areas of the UK economy, including legal services, and seeking input from a wide range of stakeholders.