HL European Committee Reports updated Friday, 16th December
The House of Lords European Committee published the following announcement stating that that, with its six sub-committees, it will publish a report each day this week, focusing on key issues that will arise in the forthcoming negotiations on Brexit.
A summary of the Committee’s Reports and Press Notices, with links to the background material, will been posted.
The House of Lords EU Committee – Parliament’s largest body responsible for scrutinizing the European Union – will publish six reports on Brexit in six days, starting on 12 December. The reports will identify key issues across a broad range of policy areas, making recommendations to the Government on what it should prioritize in Brexit negotiations.
These six reports will be followed in the New Year by further reports, ahead of the Government’s proposed deadline of March for triggering Article 50. Taken as a whole, this programme of work will be the most extensive and thorough parliamentary scrutiny of Brexit.
The publication schedule for the reports is:
- Brexit: UK-Irish relations – Monday 12 December
- Brexit: options for trade – Tuesday 13 December
- Brexit: acquired rights – Wednesday 14 December
- Brexit: financial services – Thursday 15 December
- Brexit: future UK-EU security and policing cooperation – Friday 16 December
- Brexit: fisheries – Saturday 17 December
Comment
The Huffington Post quotes Lord Boswell, chairman of the committee, as saying:
“Brexit is happening and we know it will have an impact right across our economy and public services, as well as a real and direct effect on UK and EU citizens. It is now six months since the vote to leave the EU, but we are still none the wiser about what Brexit actually means – the Government still hasn’t told us what kind of Brexit it wants, or about how it will achieve it. It’s now high time for Parliament to start taking the debate forward.
“Our work will provide a comprehensive analysis of the key issues raised by Brexit. We’ll spell out risks and opportunities, and identify some of the key areas where choices and trade-offs will have to be made. As a society we need an informed public debate on what will probably be the most important peacetime negotiations in our history.”
For those with an interest in the post-Brexit treatment of environmental issues, both the Environmental Audit Committee (EAC) and the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (EFRA) Committee took evidence during October 2016, here and here; inevitably, the potential impact of Brexit on environmental legislation featured strongly. However, given the lack of information released into the public domain by the Prime Minister, it is perhaps understandable that her Ministers adopted a Panglossian but non-committal stance even when pressed by the Select Committees.
Published Statements and Reports
Monday, 12 December
- Brexit challenge needs new bilateral UK/Ireland agreement
- Brexit: UK-Irish relations, 6th Report of Session 2016-17 – published 12 December 2016 – HL Paper 76
Tuesday, 13 December
- Brexit requires compromise between sovereignty and liberalising trade
- Brexit: the options for trade – published 13 December, HL Paper 72
Wednesday, 14 December
Thursday, 15 December
- Transitional period for financial services vital following Brexit
- Report: Brexit: financial services
Friday, 16 December
- Report identifies risk to UK if police lose access to EU tools
- Report: Brexit: future UK-EU security and police cooperation
Saturday, 17 December
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