The Lords European Affairs Committee has written to the European
Union Relations Minister Rt Hon Nick Thomas–Symonds MP ahead of
the UK-EU Summit on 19 May with a number of key points on
security, defence and law enforcement that have emerged from the
evidence in its ongoing inquiry into the UK-EU reset.
The cross-party Committee, chaired by Lord , notes that the Summit will
be dealing with a wide range of trade, economic and
people-to-people issues which are of strategic importance to both
sides. It recognises that decisions taken at the Summit will mark
the start of a process of detailed negotiations.
The evidence the Committee has received suggests a key issue will
be whether the UK and EU can develop a strategic framework for
European defence and security cooperation which would enable them
to work together as equals.
The Committee also highlights press reports that the EU has
indicated the UK will continue to be excluded from the Schengen
Information System II (which allows the sharing of real-time data
on persons and objects of interest), and expresses hope that the
Government will return to the issue.
The Committee, which is the only Parliamentary committee
dedicated to scrutinising EU-UK relations, launched its
inquiry into the UK-EU reset in January and is expected to
publish its report with conclusions and recommendations later
this year.
Read the letter in full: https://committees.parliament.uk/publications/47775/documents/249632/default/
