Question to the Ministry of Defence:

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, whether the Government has plans to continue to participate in EU defence policy, as a signatory to EU Council agreements after the UK has left the EU.

The UK will be leaving the EU's common security and defence structures, and our future relationship with those structures will be as a third country. The UK will pursue a distinctive, independent, and sovereign foreign and defence policy that meets British interests and promotes our values. The Political Declaration negotiated with the EU recognises the shared threats and values of the UK and the EU and provides a framework for an ambitious, broad, deep and flexible future relationship. There is value in the UK and EU continuing to work closely together and our future partnership should offer us both the means to combine efforts to the greatest effect. Such a partnership must also respect the sovereignty of the UK and the decision-making autonomy of the EU.