Transparency vital as Brexit negotiations get underway, say Lords EU committee

The EU Committee has called on the new Government urgently to bring forward proposals for sharing information on the Brexit negotiations with Parliament.

The Secretary of State for Exiting the EU, Rt Hon David Davis MP, promised last September to provide Westminster with at least as much information as the European Commission provides to the European Parliament, but the Government has yet to make any specific proposals. Now that the Commission’s chief negotiator, Michel Barnier, has committed himself to transparency, the Committee calls for at least an equal level of transparency in Westminster, to enable Parliament and the public to hold the Government to account and influence the Brexit process.

This is a key finding in the House of Lords EU Committee’s review of the past year, during which it published no fewer than 17 Brexit-related reports, exploring the key issues in the withdrawal negotiations, and setting the benchmark for robust parliamentary scrutiny of the Brexit process. The Committee’s review is published today.

The topics covered by the Committee’s reports on Brexit over the last year were:

• The main options for future trade with the EU
• Trade in goods
• Trade in non-financial services
• Financial services
• The Brexit financial settlement and UK contributions to the EU budget
• UK-Irish relations
• Gibraltar
• The Crown Dependencies
• Fisheries
• Agriculture
• Environment and climate change
• The rights of UK and EU citizens
• Civil justice cooperation
• Police and security cooperation
• UK-EU movement of people.

Two reports were also published setting out the principles which should underpin parliamentary scrutiny of the Brexit negotiations.

Click House of Lords European Union Committee Annual Report 2016-17 to download it.

The individual reports can be downloaded by visiting the EU Committee’s website.

Notes to Editors

1. The European Union Committee of the House of Lords scrutinises the UK Government’s policies and actions in respect of the EU; considers and seeks to influence the development of policies and draft laws proposed by the EU institutions; and more generally represents the House of Lords in its dealings with the EU institutions and other Member States.