13International Whaling Commission
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Committee’s assessment |
Legally and politically important |
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Cleared from scrutiny |
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Document details |
Proposal for a Council Decision on the position to be adopted on behalf of the European Union, at the next three meetings of the International Whaling Commission including related inter-sessional meetings and actions. |
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Legal base |
Articles 191(1), 218(9) TFEU;—; QMV |
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Department |
Environment, Food and Rural Affairs |
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Document Number |
(39005), 11894/17 + ADD 1, COM(17) 463 |
Summary and Committee’s conclusions
13.1The International Whaling Commission (IWC) is the decision-making body for the International Convention for the Regulation of Whaling (ICRW), which ensures both the conservation and the sustainable management of whales at a global level. There are 87 Contracting Parties including the UK and 25 EU Member States. The European Union has observer status.
13.2The proposed Council Decision establishes the broad position to be adopted on behalf of the European Union at the next three biennial meetings of the IWC (2018, 2020 and 2022), including related inter-sessional meetings. As the EU is not a Party to the ICRW, the position would be expressed by the Member States acting jointly in the interest of the EU. The EU’s position includes support for the general ban on commercial whaling and for the position that the “scientific” whaling exemption should not be used to justify what is primarily commercial whaling.
13.3The Committee raised Brexit-related queries when it first considered the proposal at its meeting of 13 November 2017. In particular, the Committee asked:
- whether the principle of sincere cooperation reflected in Article 4(3) TEU would apply to the UK during any post-Brexit implementation period; and
- if so, how that would impact on the UK’s ability to decide and vote independently on matters at the IWC’s 2020 meeting and at related inter-sessional meetings.
13.4The Minister for Agriculture, Fisheries and Food (George Eustice) has responded, noting simply that it is difficult to fully answer the Committee’s query at this stage. He adds that the detail of any implementation period is yet to be negotiated.
13.5On the outstanding legal issues, the Minister confirms that the legal base was successfully corrected and that text referring to “matters falling within EU competence” was included. This reflects shared understanding that the Council Decision covers matters to the extent the EU has exercised shared competence.
13.6We note that the Minister is unable to clarify whether the EU’s principle of sincere cooperation will apply to the UK during the implementation period and so is unable to comment on how independent a hand the UK will have at the IWC’s 2020 meeting and at related inter-sessional meetings. We also note that the Minister is nevertheless confident that, post-Brexit, the UK will be in a much stronger position to exert its influence in the IWC. While this may be true in the longer term, we are less assured that it is strictly accurate in the short term given the recognised uncertainty over the terms of any implementation period.
13.7We draw this document to the attention of the House as an example of where the government has agreed to the EU exercising shared competence, contrary to its normal policy that only Member States do so.
13.8We will monitor progress on these matters in our scrutiny of the UK approach to a range of international organisations and agreements. There are no outstanding questions on this document, which we now clear from scrutiny.
Full details of the documents
Proposal for a Council Decision on the position to be adopted. on behalf of the European Union, at the next three meetings of the International Whaling Commission including related inter-sessional meetings and actions: (39005), 11894/17 + ADD 1, COM(17) 463.
Background
13.9The background to, and content of, the proposal were set out in our Report of 13 November 2017.
13.10At our meeting of 13 November, we noted the Minister’s expectation that, on leaving the EU, the UK will “extend its influence to shaping global coalitions in favour of whale conservation”. We sought confirmation that the UK is already using its IWC membership to work with non-EU countries to boost whale conservation, but that the extent of that work is constrained by the need to respect the overall EU position.
13.11Turning to the impact of any post-Brexit implementation period, we asked:
- Does the Minister envisage that the principle of sincere cooperation reflected in Article 4(3) TEU—and thus forming part of the EU’s rules and procedures—would apply to the UK during the implementation period?
- If so, how would that impact on the UK’s ability to decide and vote independently on matters at the IWC’s 2020 meeting and at related inter-sessional meetings?
13.12In his original Explanatory Memorandum (EM), the Minister highlighted a need to amend the legal base. While the proposed Article 191(1) TFEU sets out broad environmental policy objectives, it is Article 192(1) TFEU, he said, which is more appropriate as it provides for the Council to decide on EU action to achieve Article 191 objectives. Furthermore, as the proposal relates to the environment and matters in which both the EU and Member States have competence, the Minister considered that the draft Decision should clarify that it relates to “matters falling within EU competence”.
13.13We agreed with the Government that the substantive legal base for the proposal should be Article 192(1), but we noted that this would not affect the procedure. We agreed too that greater clarity around the competence being exercised by the EU would be desirable, and that this should be set out in the Council Decision. The Government referred only to “matters falling within EU competence”, without distinguishing between shared and exclusive competence. We emphasised that, in future, we expect the Government to be specific.
13.14We cleared the document from scrutiny at our meeting of 13 November in advance of its imminent adoption.
The Minister’s letter of 21 December 2017
13.15Concerning the UK’s current engagement with non-EU countries, the Minister reassures the Committee that the UK currently plays a prominent and active role in the IWC where the UK is well respected among EU and non-EU countries. The UK, reports the Minister, works closely and constructively with Parties to the IWC and has developed “excellent” relationships with a number of countries, including Australia, New Zealand, USA, Brazil, Argentina and Mexico. The Minister adds:
“Whilst the UK continues to use its influence within the IWC to secure improvements in the conservation and welfare of cetaceans globally, we must currently do this within the boundaries of EU and Member States common positions. After we leave the EU the UK will be in a much stronger position to exert its influence on this global platform.”
13.16The Minister expresses the Government’s approach to the post-Brexit implementation period in the following terms:
“With respect to the impact of a post-exit implementation period on our ability to operate within the IWC, it is difficult to fully answer this at this stage. The UK will cease to be a member of the EU on 29 March 2019. At that point, neither the UK nor the EU and its Member States will be in a position to smoothly implement many of the detailed arrangements that will underpin our new partnership. We have therefore proposed a time limited period for implementation. The framework for this period, which can be agreed under Article 50, would be the existing structure of EU rules and regulations. We will have to negotiate the detail of how the implementation period will work.”
13.17Turning to the legal base, the Minister was pleased that the UK successfully corrected the legal base and that text referring to ‘matters falling within EU competence’ was included. This, he says, is standard agreed text used in Council Decisions covering international negotiations under environmental treaties. It is based on the shared understanding that the Council Decision covers matters to the extent the EU has exercised shared competence.
Previous Committee Reports
First Report HC 301-I (2017–19), chapter 36 (13 November 2017).
2 February 2018