Lords EU Committee reports on Withdrawal Agreement and future UK-EU relations

Today’s report analyses the key provisions of both the Withdrawal Agreement – which sets the terms of the UK’s exit from the EU – and the Political Declaration on future relations, which the Committee describes as “little more than an agenda for a discussion that has barely begun”.

The report notes that the Joint Committee, which will oversee the operation of the Agreement, will not operate in an ‘open and transparent way’, meeting in private with no obligation to publish minutes or details of its decisions. The Committee invites Members of the Lords to use this week’s Withdrawal Agreement debate to seek undertakings from the Government that Parliament will be able to effectively scrutinise the work of the Joint Committee.

Other issues highlighted in the report include: 

• Brexit financial settlement: The Committee welcomes the Government’s commitment to ‘pay its dues’ whether or not the Withdrawal Agreement is successfully concluded, as to not do so would have ‘profound consequences’.
   
• Transition period: The report expresses concern about the ‘sudden loss’ of UK influence over EU policies during the transition period, when it will remain bound to EU laws and dispute resolution mechanisms. The Committee is also concerned about the lack of clarity over possible extension of the transition period, which would be decided by the Joint Committee.
   
• Irish backstop: If it were necessary to resort to the backstop at the end of the transition period, the Committee notes that the UK would be closely aligned to the EU’s competition and state aid rules, making the relevant UK institutions subordinate to the European Commission. The Committee notes that neither the UK nor the EU could unilaterally bring the backstop to an end.
   
• Citizens’ rights: It remains far from clear what would happen in the event of a no-deal Brexit. In such circumstances, the Committee calls on the Government to formally undertake to honour all the obligations in the Withdrawal Agreement in respect of EU nationals in the UK, and to seek assurances from the EU 27, as a matter of urgency, on the rights of UK nationals in the EU.
   
• Reciprocal healthcare: The Committee is concerned by the omission from the Political Declaration of any reference to reciprocal healthcare.
   
• Family law: The lack of detail on how this will work after Brexit risks damaging the UK’s family justice system and may mean uncertainty for families seeking justice.

Chair of the EU Select Committee Lord Boswell said: 

“Securing a Withdrawal Agreement, so that the UK can leave the EU in an orderly fashion, while safeguarding the rights of millions of UK and EU citizens, is a significant achievement for the Government. But there are also questions, gaps, uncertainties, particularly over our future relationship with the EU.

“What about family law? What about reciprocal health insurance? These things matter to people across the UK, and it’s disappointing that we have so little detail. 

“In the last two years the EU Select Committee and its sub-committees have published almost 40 reports, talking to witnesses and stakeholders, exploring key issues affecting all of us, from policing and extradition to biosecurity, climate change to financial services. So I’m frustrated that after all this time the negotiating teams have, in some crucial areas, provided so little detail.

“We hope that members of both Houses will urge the Government to fill the gaps we have identified and provide reassurance about the future relationship between the UK and the EU.”