Summary
The European Union Committee of the House of Lords scrutinises the UK Government’s policies and actions in respect of the EU; considers and seeks to influence the development of policies and draft laws proposed by the EU institutions; and represents the House of Lords in its dealings with the EU institutions and other Member States.
Following the 23 June 2016 referendum, the focus of the Committee’s work has shifted to scrutinising the implications of Brexit. During the 2016–17 Session, this has included:
- Publication of 15 reports on the implications of Brexit across a wide range of policy fields, including trade, financial services, UK-Irish relations, the impact on Gibraltar and on the Crown Dependencies, the Brexit financial settlement and the UK’s contribution to the EU budget, agriculture, fisheries, environment and climate change, UK-EU movement of people, the acquired rights of EU citizens, security and police cooperation, and civil justice.
- Two reports setting out the principles which we believe should underpin parliamentary scrutiny of the Brexit negotiations.
- Hearing evidence from 312 witnesses and receiving 351 written submissions.
- An unprecedented intensity of interparliamentary dialogue with our colleagues in the devolved legislatures, in the European Parliament, and in other national parliaments, with 14 interparliamentary meetings on the implications of Brexit alone.
- An unprecedented level of media and social media coverage of and interest in the Committee’s work, with an over four-fold increase in media articles, and a doubling of the Committee’s Twitter following.
The Committee has also continued to fulfil its scrutiny responsibilities, and has examined 140 EU documents and legislative proposals in detail, as well as publishing reports on unaccompanied migrant children in the EU and the legality of EU sanctions.
The Committee has an important role to play in scrutinising the ongoing Brexit negotiations. Achieving a successful outcome is vital to the United Kingdom’s long-term prosperity and its future place in the world. We believe that this will be made more likely if Parliament is an active contributor to the process, and we therefore continue to seek to cast light upon the negotiations, questioning and holding the Government to account throughout.