Queen's Speech December 2019 - EU (Withdrawal Agreement) Bill

EU (Withdrawal Agreement) Bill

“My government’s priority is to deliver the United Kingdom’s departure from the European Union on 31 January...Thereafter, my ministers will seek a future relationship with the European Union based on a free trade agreement that benefits the whole of the United Kingdom. They will also begin trade negotiations with other leading global economies.”

The purpose of the Bill is to:

● Implement in domestic law the Withdrawal Agreement which has been agreed between the UK and the EU.

The main benefits of the Bill would be:

• ●  Ensuring that the UK leaves the EU with a deal on 31 January.

• ●  Delivering the implementation period to give businesses and citizens time to prepare before it ends on 31 December 2020.

• ●  Protecting the rights of EU, EEA and Swiss citizens in UK law.

• ●  Beginning to implement the new Protocol on Ireland/Northern Ireland following the removal of the backstop.

  The main elements of the Bill are:

  • ●  Implementing the Withdrawal Agreement, Swiss Citizens’ Rights Agreement and EEA EFTA Separation Agreement in UK law.

  • ●  Implementing the new Protocol on Ireland/Northern Ireland.

  • ●  Protecting the rights of EU, EEA and Swiss citizens in UK law.

  • ●  Providing for the implementation period until 31 December 2020.

    Territorial extent and application

● The Bill's provisions would extend and apply to the whole of the UK. The Bill will contain a mixture of reserved and devolved content.

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Other EU-exit related legislation

● There will be further EU-exit legislation required in this session in addition to that detailed here in order to deliver on our exit-related priorities by the end of the implementation period. In particular this will include any legislation needed to implement the future relations we will agree with the EU by the end of December 2020.

Key facts

• ●  17.4 million people voted to leave the EU in the 2016 referendum. And in the 2019 general election, the country re-elected this Government with the manifesto commitment to get Brexit done.

• ●  Since the Prime Minister took office in July 2019, his focus has been on reaching an agreement that is acceptable to both sides so we can leave the EU on January 31 with a deal, move on and build a new partnership between the UK and the EU.

• ●  This has included agreeing a new Protocol on Ireland/Northern Ireland to replace the backstop, which was rejected by Parliament three times. This new Protocol is a special arrangement for Northern Ireland that protects the Good Friday (Belfast) Agreement, supports the Northern Ireland economy and ensures that the UK leaves the EU whole and entire.

• ●  Parliament will have an opportunity to vote on the necessary Brexit legislation in principle and in detail.