Putin’s illegal war in Ukraine demonstrates the need for the UK
and EU to work together and uphold their shared values of freedom
and democracy in Europe, UK Minister for Europe, , will tell Members of
Parliament today (Monday 7 November) in a keynote speech.
Docherty will address the Parliamentary Partnership Assembly
(PPA), established under the Trade and Cooperation Agreement
(TCA) to support post-Brexit co-operation and parliamentary
scrutiny between the UK and EU. The Assembly is made up of
representatives from both the UK and European Parliaments and
Vice President of the European Commission, , will also speak at
the event.
Minister Docherty will praise the productive co-operation between
the UK and EU to support Ukraine through sanctions, training
Ukrainian soldiers and helping Sweden and Finland accede to NATO.
Minister for Europe, , is expected to say:
“A clear lesson from the last nine months has been that
despite the challenges in our relationship, the UK and EU are
effective allies where it matters most.
“...The Ukrainians have stood firm against Vladimir Putin, in
part because of the actions of our Government and those across
the EU. That action has been stronger because it has been
coordinated between us.
“...I urge our European friends to continue to work with us
in providing more weapons, imposing more sanctions, and backing
Ukraine to push Russian forces out.”
Minister Docherty will praise the work the UK and EU are doing to
increase energy supply and move away from Russian hydrocarbons.
To ensure continued progress on energy, Docherty will call for
the accelerated delivery of the TCA’s provisions on electricity
trading, to make electricity more affordable, support the
security of supply and help integrate low carbon technologies
into the grid.
However, Minister Docherty will also highlight areas where
progress still needs to be made to deliver on the Trade and
Cooperation Agreement. For example, the UK has still not
been granted access to EU scientific research programmes,
including Horizon, as agreed under the TCA.
He will reiterate that by refusing to grant the UK access
to science and research programmes, the EU has not fulfilled
their part of the agreement. He will emphasise the UK
Government’s continuing support for our cutting-edge R&D
sector and will urge the EU to reconsider its approach.
With our focus on working together to tackle shared challenges,
from Net Zero to global health and energy security, UK access to
these programmes would be beneficial to both sides.
Specifically commenting on access to EU research programmes, he
will say:
“The UK’s participation would be a clear win-win for the UK
and the EU, but the UK cannot wait much longer. The EU’s approach
is causing intolerable uncertainty for our research and business
communities.”
[Ends]
Notes for Editors
· The Parliamentary
Partnership Assembly (PPA) was set up under Article 11 of the
EU-UK Trade and Cooperation Agreement (TCA).
· It is composed of 70
representatives from the UK and EU Parliaments.
· Its role is to provide
a platform for elected representatives to exchange views on the
implementation of the TCA and make recommendations to the
Partnership Council, the main body to oversee the TCA.
· The PPA meets twice a
year, once in London and once either in Strasbourg or Brussels.
The first meeting of the PPA was held in Brussels in May 2022.
· On the EU science and
research programmes:
o The UK has been clear with the EU that their
refusal to grant UK access to research programmes like Horizon is
a clear breach of the agreement signed in December 2020.
o The agreement clearly stated that UK
association would take place at the earliest opportunity when the
relevant EU legislation was finalised.
o In response to the EU’s refusal to implement
their obligations, the UK launched formal consultations under the
TCA’s dispute settlement provisions.
· The UK
Government wrote to the European
Commission on 16 August 2022 to formally request the
consultations.
· On Northern Ireland,
the Government is committed to protecting political stability in
Northern Ireland and safeguarding the Belfast (Good Friday)
Agreement.
