The House of Lords EU Committee published the first in a series of reports looking beyond Brexit to the future relationship between the UK and EU. This report focuses on the institutional framework contained in the post-Brexit EU-UK TCA, including governance structures and dispute settlement.
The report
The Committee’s report outlines the complex but flat governance
structure established by the Trade and Cooperation Agreement, concluding
that it is likely to prove challenging, and there may be a case for
simplifying and rationalising it in due course.
The Committee is particularly concerned by the Government’s decision
that, until the agreement is ratified, none of the governance bodies can
meet, with the result that the entire governance structure is in
abeyance.
The report calls on the Government to commit to supporting effective
scrutiny by both Houses of Parliament of the complex proposed governance
structure, and to ensuring that the Minister overseeing relations with
the EU appears regularly before designated Select Committees of both
Houses.
The report notes that the Government has broadly achieved its aim of
bring the direct jurisdiction of the Court of Justice of the European
Union to an end. But in its place the TCA creates a varied series of
dispute resolution mechanisms, some of which are novel, untested and
without clear precedent. Only time will tell if they are workable in
practice.
Finally, the report regrets the fact that the bulk of dispute
settlement arrangements are State-to-State, and as a result access to
justice for individuals and businesses will be restricted, even in cases
where individual rights are directly affected, such as extradition. The
Committee calls on the Government to take steps to mitigate this
impact.
House of Lords
© House of Lords
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