Question to the Ministry of Defence:

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, pursuant to the Answer of 16 July 2018 to Question 162497 on Patrol Vessels, and with reference to his Department's policy of not classifying offshore patrol vessels as warships for shipbuilding purposes, as outlined in the Answer of 9 July 2018 to Question 160710, whether he has a remit to exempt future orders of Royal Navy and Royal Fleet Auxiliary ships from international competition under Article 346 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union.

The National Shipbuilding Strategy made clear that Royal Navy warships (destroyers, frigates and aircraft carriers) will be built in the UK. This recognises that preserving this national capability to design, integrate and build warships is critical to national security. The exemption under Article 346 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union, allowing any member nation to reserve a procurement for reasons of national security, applies to warships - not to naval auxiliary vessels.