Good afternoon,

This week there continues to be no progress towards a deal on the future relationship between the UK and the EU. Barnier claims the UK are not compromising and the UK claim Barnier’s rules are preventing progress. This week we include an “In Parliament” section outlining some key events on the upcoming parliamentary diary for you to look out for. As usual we have some recommended reading for your Friday.

Enjoy,
Jacob

In Politics

No Compromises

Talks continue to stall
UK blames EUs “parallelism” and EU blames UK’s lack of compromise
October is the deadline for agreement and is fast approaching

Negotiations continue to stall and this week fisheries was a big stumbling block. The EU’s chief negotiator Michel Barnier refused to discuss fisheries due to his negotiation rules on “parallelism”. These rules, which he has outlined and stuck to, are that the “EU’s objective was to move forward – in parallel – on all topics of negotiation, including the most difficult ones.” This means that as talks are not progressing in other areas, such as the level playing field, they cannot progress on fisheries.

According to the Times, sources in the UK negotiation team place the blame for the lack of progress on these rules, stating that “We had hoped to make progress and presented room papers but, unfortunately, the EU refused to engage due to their self-imposed requirements.” The UK also sounds no closer to making the concessions the EU want. Indeed the Prime Minister’s official spokesman said to the BBC “major difficulties remain”.

The outcome of this is that neither side is any closer to conceding and therefore a deal is still some way off. This is despite months of negotiations on these specific issues. A deal needs to be agreed by the end of October as the EU will need to ratify this deal, having the EU parliament approve it, and potentially need EU members national parliaments to ratify it too depending on what is in the final deal. The Institute for Government has a useful explainer of the process. This is something Barnier emphasised this week in a speech at the Institute of International and European Affairs “We must have a final agreement by the end of October if we are to have a new partnership in place by 1 January 2021”, concluding that “Everyone, everywhere must be realistic about this strict deadline.”

Hilary Benn MP, the chair of the Committee on the Future Relationship with the European Union, tweeted his concerns about the approach the UK Government is taking. He is concerned that the UK Government hasn’t yet set out the state aid and competition policy rules it will follow in the future, something the EU keen to see and would help progress talks. He argues that the UK has already agreed to many things in the Political Declaration asking “why is it so difficult for ministers now to set out what they have already committed to in writing?”.

There is another round of negotiation talks planned for next week to be hosted in London starting on the 7th September. We will see if the UK continues along the path it has taken so far with state aid and fisheries. The outcome of these will give a strong indication as to whether compromise is in the air or if the UK faces no deal at the end of the transition period.

In Policy

Labelling Errors

Food and Drinks Industry warn they wont be ready for new labelling requirements after the transition period
Call for UK Government to give more clarity
Could mean some food can't be exported to Northern Ireland

At the end of this year the UK will leave the transition period. It may leave with a trade deal agreed or the UK may not, this, of course, depends on the outcome of the ongoing negotiations. What is certain is the trading relationship between the UK and the EU will change and there will be new rules and regulations for civil society, individuals and business to adhere to. This takes time and preparation to get right.

This week business has warned that time is running out for them to prepare the necessary changes to food labelling to enable the industry to continue selling products to the EU and Northern Ireland.

Alex Turtle, the Food and Drink Federation’s labelling and enforcement manager told Business Insider that “The UK's exit from the EU requires food labels to be adapted as never before due to the unique situation of the country's status change. These label changes are complex, and clarity from the Government is urgently required in order for industry to be able to create compliant food labels post-exit”.

The issues surrounding labelling are an example of the new divergences that are emerging between Great Britain and Northern Ireland. Due to the Withdrawal Agreement there is now a customs border down the Irish Sea. To avoid a hard border on the Island of Ireland goods entering Northern Ireland from Great Britain that are deemed at risk of entering the EU via the land border will face customs checks on entering Northern Ireland.

Because of this firms will likely need to use different labels, to comply with these new rules, than they will in the rest of the UK. The lack of clear labelling guidance for firms means that labelling will not be correct and goods will not be able to be exported from Great Britain to Northern Ireland.

This is an example of businesses and organisations waiting for clarity from the UK Government about what will happen in the new year once the UK has left the EU. There remain only four months to the end of the transition period and there is still much uncertainty. This uncertainty, even on seemingly easy to solve issues such as labelling, has significant implications on people's lives, such as the availability of food in Northern Ireland.

In Parliament

Key Brexit events to look out for next week in Parliament.

7-11 September: the next negotiating round on the future relationship (London)

House of Commons

Tuesday 8th

Fisheries Bill - Oral evidence To Consider the Bill (at 9:25 am) Location: Room 14, Palace of Westminster

Fisheries Bill - Oral evidence Further to Consider the Bill (at 2:00 pm) Location: Room 14, Palace of Westminster

Wednesday 9th

Seventh Delegated Legislation Committee - Oral evidence The draft INSPIRE (Amendment) (EU Exit) Regulations 2020 (at 9:25 am) Location: Room 14, Palace of Westminster

Committee on the Future Relationship with the European Union - Oral evidence
Progress of the negotiations on the UK’s Future Relationship with the EU (at 9:30 am) Location: Virtual meeting

Thursday 10th

9.30am Questions to the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
10.00am Topical Questions to the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

Fisheries Bill - Oral evidence Further to Consider the Bill (at 11:30 am) Location: Room 14, Palace of Westminster

Fisheries Bill - Oral evidence Further to Consider the Bill (at 2:00 pm) Location: Room 14, Palace of Westminster

Friday 11th

Two Private Members Bills:

European Union Withdrawal (Implementation Period) Bill: Second Reading
Member in Charge: Sir Edward Davey

European Union (Withdrawal Agreement) (Extension) Bill: Second Reading
Member in Charge: Layla Moran

House of Lords

Monday 7th

Legislation: Immigration and Social Security Co-ordination (EU Withdrawal) Bill – Committee stage (day 1)

Debate: Report from the Constitution Committee 'Parliamentary Scrutiny of Treaties'; report from the EU Committee 'Scrutiny of international agreements: lessons learned' ; report from the EU Committee 'Treaty scrutiny: working practices'

Tuesday 8th

Legislation: Trade Bill – Second reading

Wednesday 9th

Legislation: Immigration and Social Security Co-ordination (EU Withdrawal) Bill – Committee stage (day 2)

Orders and regulations: INSPIRE (Amendment) (EU Exit) Regulations 2020

Thursday 10th

Orders and regulations: Electricity and Gas (Internal Markets and Network Codes) (Amendment etc.) (EU Exit) Regulations 2020

In Events

Brexit Civil Society Alliance Survey

The Brexit Civil Society Alliance in its current form will conclude in January 2021.

Since the formation of the Brexit Civil Society Alliance in 2017 (then the Repeal Bill Alliance) we have been working together with civil society organisations to protect rights and standards and advocate for transparent lawmaking that places limits on executive powers and respects the devolution settlements during the Brexit process. We have done this through facilitating information sharing, regularly convening civil society organisations, coordinate joint policy asks, responding to Brexit legislation and engaging with policy-makers.

We are currently exploring what the role and shape of a UK-wide civil society alliance post-2020 may look like. We are therefore seeking the views of our members and civil society organisations in our wider networks and would welcome your ideas and suggestions as part of this survey. It is available here.

BCSA UK Shared Prosperity Fund Evidence Gathering

Over the last forty years, European Union funding has provided a safety net for people facing inequality and discrimination and offered them a chance to make their lives better.

The funding often enables work on difficult issues and with groups for which there are often no alternative sources of funding. For instance funding helps workers at risk of discrimination and women with complex needs including homelessness, addiction, and mental ill health.

As the UK leaves the EU, this funding will no longer continue. To replace it, the UK Government has promised to replace it with the UK Shared Prosperity Fund (UKSPF).

This has not been established yet but new is expected to be announced during the Comprehensive Spending Review this autumn.

Needless to say, voluntary and community organisations are pretty worried about their continued existence and how it will affect their users. However, this could also be a big opportunity and we can make the case for the government to follow through on the promises, for instance, to ensure the UK Shared Prosperity Fund is used “to reduce inequalities between communities''. Equally Ours, a member of the Brexit Civil Society Alliance, have in partnership with organisations across the UK, developed a key set of principles that will make sure the UKSPF delivers on equality and prosperity for all. You can read more about these and sign up here.

We also know that concrete examples and stories can strengthen our case and allow us to better hold the government to account on its promise to actually replace EU funding and use it to reduce inequalities between communities. This is why we would love to hear directly from organisations who have benefited from EU funding. We intend to use this to inform lobbying of MPs and external communications. We also want to bring organisations with an interest in the UKSPF together so that we can continue to collectively pressure the government on this.

If you are an organisation, or know one that has benefited from EU funding please share your story with us today. We will then be in touch with further details.

For any questions please email Jacob on jacob.millen-bamford@brexitcivilsocietyalliance.org

In Politics

No Compromises

In Policy

In Parliament

In Events

Recommended Reading