Chapter 1: Introduction
Background to the report
1.This report looks beyond Brexit, exploring how the UK and EU’s relationship will be conducted in the long term, once the UK is no longer ‘in the room’, having ceased to participate in the EU’s institutions.
2.Our intention had been to wait until the terms of the UK’s withdrawal were finalised and approved before setting out our analysis of how future UK-EU inter-institutional relations would operate. But following the House of Commons’ rejection of the Withdrawal Agreement and the Political Declaration for a second time on 12 March, and its subsequent support for a motion requesting an extension of Article 50, the uncertainty continues.
3.Nevertheless, an analysis of post-Brexit UK-EU inter-institutional relations is merited, given the likelihood that the governance structures proposed in the Withdrawal Agreement and Political Declaration will form part of whatever deal is ultimately reached. Furthermore, even if the UK leaves without any Agreement being ratified, the UK-EU relationship, however acrimonious in the short term, will continue to be important to both sides. Many of our conclusions apply with equal force to that scenario.
4.We have therefore taken the decision to publish our analysis now, to help prepare for the rapid establishment of new inter-institutional mechanisms if and when agreement on the terms of the UK’s withdrawal is reached, and to inform decision-making within Parliament, including the House of Lords Liaison Committee’s current review of investigative and scrutiny committees.
5.Chapter 2 examines the formal mechanisms for governance and dialogue set out in the Withdrawal Agreement and Political Declaration on future UK-EU relations, both during transition and post-transition, notably the proposed Joint Committee and Specialised Committee structures. Chapter 3 analyses other channels for inter-institutional relations, and asks how the UK can maximise its influence in Brussels and with EU Member States post-Brexit. Chapter 4 considers the implications for Parliament, both in scrutinising future UK-EU inter-institutional relations, and in developing inter-parliamentary dialogue with the European Parliament, EU Member State parliaments, and the devolved legislatures. While the report assumes a deal, many of the conclusions drawn could equally apply in the event of ‘no deal’.
6.We have drawn on evidence heard in January and February 2019 from the Secretary of State for Exiting the EU, Rt Hon Stephen Barclay MP, the former UK Permanent Representative to the EU, Sir Ivan Rogers, and (with particular reference to the Protocol on Ireland/Northern Ireland) from a panel of academic, legal and trade experts. We also held a seminar on future inter-institutional relations with other academic and legal experts in January 2019, a note of which has been published online.1 Our deliberations have been informed by written correspondence with the Government, with committees in the devolved legislatures, and by informal discussions with key institutional stakeholders in the UK, Brussels and existing third countries. We are grateful to all of our interlocutors for their assistance.
7.We make this report for debate.
1 European Union Committee, Note on a roundtable seminar, 22 January 2019: https://www.parliament.uk/documents/lords-committees/eu-select/interinstitutional-relations-inquiry/22-jan-roundtable.pdf [accessed 19 March 2019]