Question to the Department for Exiting the European Union :

To ask the Secretary of State for Exiting the European Union, with reference to sub-paragraph 7(a) on page 14 of the White Paper, The future relationship between the UK and the EU, Cm. 9353, published on 12 July 2018, which items of EU legislation adopted over the last 30 years have made changes to the rules included in the definition of the common rulebook for goods, including agri-food, covering only those rules necessary to provide for frictionless trade at the border.

The Common Rulebook will include rules necessary to provide for frictionless trade at the border. The rules have been developed over the last 30 years or more to reflect the connected nature of the UK and EU economies and respond to emerging risks. The UK has long advocated a convergence of rules and standards for goods, which are relatively stable, and therefore consider the adoption of a common rulebook is in both the UK’s and EU’s interests.

In our negotiations with the EU we will ensure that the scope of the common rule book is limited to those areas without which there would be friction at the border.