Question to the Department for Exiting the European Union :

To ask the Secretary of State for Exiting the European Union, what assessment has been made of the effect on the operation of Tourism NI and Tourism Ireland of the proposed EU Withdrawal Agreement.

The Northern Ireland Protocol to the Withdrawal Agreement, at Article 13, contains a commitment that the UK and the EU will respectively maintain the necessary conditions for North-South cooperation following the UK’s withdrawal from the EU. This includes tourism, which is a formal area of cooperation agreed by the North-South Ministerial Council (NSMC) under Strand II of the Belfast Agreement.

The Attorney-General’s legal commentary on the Agreement made clear that Article 13 does not alter the remit or functions of the NSMC or the North-South Implementation bodies, nor does it alter arrangements under Strand II of the 1998 Agreement in any way. The Protocol acknowledges that the UK and Ireland may continue to make new arrangements that build on the provisions of the 1998 Agreement in other areas of North-South cooperation on the island of Ireland. In accordance with the position set out in the recitals, the functions and safeguards of the Assembly and the NSMC (including cross-community provisions) will be respected in full.

Thus the Protocol and its recitals recognise that any new arrangements - whether expansion or diminution in areas of cooperation - are a matter for the Northern Ireland Executive and Irish Government alone, through the NSMC. The status, functions, and remit of Tourism NI and Tourism Ireland are completely unaffected.

It is important also to note that the Article also does not require any application of EU law in Northern Ireland. It is therefore exempt from the specific EU supervision and enforcement provisions set out in the Protocol. Cooperation will remain a matter for two sovereign jurisdictions on the island of Ireland to decide in accordance with the respective legal regimes.

The most significant effect of the Withdrawal Agreement in relation to tourism is to ensure that, under the Common Travel Area arrangements, individuals can continue to travel freely between the United Kingdom, including Northern Ireland, and Ireland.