Question to the Department for Exiting the European Union :

To ask the Secretary of State for Exiting the European Union, with reference to Article 127 of the 1994 European Economic Area (EEA) Agreement, whether the Government has given the twelve months’ written notice to the other Contracting Parties of its intention to withdraw from that Agreement.

The Government's legal position on this question remains unchanged: Article 127 does not need to be triggered for the European Economic Area (EEA) Agreement to cease to have effect. In the absence of any further action, the EEA Agreement will no longer operate in respect of the UK when we leave the EU. We do not consider, therefore, that providing written notice to the other Contracting Parties under Article 127 of the EEA Agreement is necessary.

We agreed with the EU at March European Council that they will notify third parties that the UK will be treated as a Member State for the purposes of international agreements during the implementation period. This includes the EEA Agreement.