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Twenty-first Report of Session 2019–21 Contents

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1EU Circular Economy Action Plan1

This EU document is politically important because: the Government acknowledges the desirability of continued engagement between Northern Ireland and the EU as part of ongoing policy work for legislation subject to alignment under the Protocol; and the Government insists that, under no circumstances, will the direction of UK policy be influenced by the EU, even in areas where Northern Ireland must continue to align and where there is a common framework in place to avoid unintended divergence across the UK. Action Report to the House. Draw to the attention of the Environmental Audit Committee; the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs Committee; the Northern Ireland Affairs Committee; and the Committee on the Future Relationship with the EU.

Overview

1.1The Commission’s recent Circular Economy Action Plan has direct implications for Northern Ireland as it suggests legislative changes that would apply in Northern Ireland under the terms of the Ireland/Northern Ireland Protocol. It consequently has indirect implications for the rest of the UK as waste policy is an area where it has been determined that cooperation between the nations of the UK — including Northern Ireland — will be necessary post-Brexit through a “common framework”.

1.2Following our first consideration of the Action Plan, we wrote to the Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State (Rebecca Pow MP) on 9 July 2020 seeking additional information on the Government’s approach to future engagement with the EU in this area.

1.3The Minister has responded, noting that the UK “may take note of the EU’s priorities and ongoing work in this area to support the interests of UK consumers, manufacturers and suppliers”, but “under no circumstances should this influence our direction of travel in the UK, where policy decisions shall be made in the interests of the domestic landscape.”

1.4That said, the Minister goes on to recognise that the UK common framework for resources and waste policy will need to take account of the “specific nuances that will need to be applied in Northern Ireland given the requirements of the Protocol.”

1.5She says that the terms of future UK-EU engagement on policy work relating to legislation subject to alignment under the Protocol remains to be agreed, but will most likely take place via the Joint Committee process. The Minister assures us that decisions made there will be reflected in the work to develop the common framework for waste, whilst ensuring UK autonomy to reflect domestic priorities in this area.

1.6Finally, the Committee asked the Minister to set out the Government’s position on whether the Single Use Plastics Directive2 — referenced in the Action Plan — should be incorporated into the Protocol as the Commission has proposed. The Minister says that the Government is not seeking to renegotiate the Protocol and that it must be implemented in a way that upholds the Belfast (Good Friday) Agreement and respects the unique circumstances of Northern Ireland.

Our assessment

1.7We note an inherent tension in the Minister’s letter between a recognition that coordination across the UK on policies covered by the Protocol will need to recognise Northern Ireland’s obligations, while on the other hand insisting that, under no circumstances, will EU law influence the direction of UK policy in this area.

1.8The reality is that the UK in respect of Northern Ireland will not only be influenced by EU law in this area but will be obliged to apply it. As coordination between the four nations on policy in this area will presumably seek to take into account the approaches taken in each of their jurisdictions, that means taking EU law into account as it will be the applicable law in one of those nations. The extent to which it influences policy developments elsewhere is a matter of choice but to expect that there are no circumstances under which it might influence the approach is, in our view, unrealistic.

1.9We take note of the fact that there is no agreement on the terms of future UK-EU engagement concerning policy work relating to legislation subject to alignment under the Protocol.

1.10As to the inclusion of the Single Use Plastics Directive in Annex 2 of the Protocol, we take note of the Minister’s comment and will pursue the Government’s approach to this matter in our scrutiny of the Commission’s proposal on changes to be made to the Protocol.

Action

1.11We report the Minister’s response to the House given its political interest but require no further information from her. We draw it to the attention of the Environmental Audit Committee; the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs Committee; the Northern Ireland Affairs Committee; and the Committee on the Future Relationship with the EU.

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