Good afternoon,
There is still little news as to whether a deal has been agreed between the UK and the EU. MPs pressure the Government on the implementation of the Northern Ireland protocol. We have an event “Deal or no deal: are we ready for the end of the transition period?” and a new podcast episode focused on devolution. As usual we have recommended reading for your Friday.
Enjoy,
Jacob
In Politics
Negotiations Continue
No deal has been agreed yet
Level Playing Field and fisheries continue to be key points of contention
Negotiations paused due to COVID-19 infection
Once again this week there is no news on whether a trade deal has been agreed or not between the EU and the UK. Furthermore due to one of the negotiators testing positive with COVID-19 negotiations have been paused.
Tony Connelly, RTE Europe editor, reports that the EU is however changing strategy slightly and is willing to weather a no-deal Brexit.. This the EU believes, will result in the UK coming back to the negotiating table next year. According to Connelly, the EU has been looking at legal mechanisms to ease the ratification process time pressures in order to appear patient with the UK. In the event of a no-deal the assumption appears to be that the EU can handle it better than the UK and financially support members who are harder hit like Ireland and Denmark. Essentially the EU are leaving the ball in the UK’s court.
Connelley also reports that Member states have been briefed that while 95% of the future relationship has been completed there continues to be little real movement on the key issues of Level Playing Field for both sides. The EU sees it as fundamental to a trade deal because the UK is geographically close to the EU’s market and does not want to be undermined by lower standards in the UK. Meanwhile the UK’s top concern is still the sovereignty of the UK to make decisions and does not want to compromise on this. Without compromise somewhere from both sides there seems to continue to be little progress towards a deal.
It is important to note that even if a deal is agreed it will be a slim deal, a point made by Katya Adler, BBC Europe editor, it is not a choice of a soft Brexit or no-deal but of a hard Brexit or no-deal. In either case we do not know what the future looks like, and therefore individuals, civil society, and business struggle to prepare for it.
In Policy
Implementation of the Northern Ireland Protocol
Businesses in Northern Ireland are concerned that they won't be ready for the end of the transition period
Northern Ireland Affairs Committee Chair concerned that Government is outlining enough detail
Shadow Secretary of State for Northern Ireland is concerned that Government help is coming up short
With the transition period due to end in just over a month's time, and still no concrete news on whether the UK will have a deal with the EU afterwards, there remains a considerable amount of work yet to be done. This includes preparations on the implementation of the Northern Ireland protocol.
Louise Haigh, Shadow Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, asked an urgent question in the Commons this week requesting the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland to “make a statement on the preparations for the implementation of the Northern Ireland protocol.”
The response from the Minister focused on the help provided by the Government to businesses. You can read his full response here. But as highlighted by Haigh in her reply, was too little too late for a lot of businesses in Northern Ireland. Furthermore the Minister's response offered nothing for civil society concerns about the implementation of the protocol.
As Haigh stated in her reply many of the schemes and help provided by the Government are arriving late in the transition period with little time for business to take advantage. According to Haigh, industry has not had the final version of the new customs declaration service (despite experts saying it will need 18 months for traders to get ready), the trader support service will not go live until the 21st December, and business has had no information about the tariff rebate system.
Simon Hoare, Chair of the Northern Ireland Affairs Committee, puts his question to the Minister, “It is 43 days until 31 December and covid-hit businesses are exasperated —and I share that exasperation. Every witness the Select Committee on Northern Ireland Affairs has heard from says that they wish to obey the rules, whatever they are. When are they going to know definitively what they have to do and how they have to do it, in order to keep themselves in business and on the right side of the law?”
The Northern Ireland Affairs Committee has been hearing stark warnings from organisations in Northern Ireland about what is likely to happen. Adam Payne, senior political reporter at BusinessInsider, highlights some warnings here as does Tony Connelly, RTE Europe editor, with the NI Retail Consortium pointing out how agrifood produced in NI that goes to GB often goes through Dublin port with multiple border crossings during production too.
This week, civil society groups in Northern Ireland have also briefed the Biden Transition Team about Brexit and the protection of human rights, equality laws, and the Good Friday Agreement. You can read their briefing paper here.
Ultimately the core concern comes from the fact that while the transition period is due to end soon no one knows what will come next. This makes it hard for anyone to prepare for the future relationship between the UK and the EU (deal or no-deal) and the help from the Government is coming up short.
In Parliament
Watch Commons and Lords debates and Committee sessions free on parliamentlive.tv
House of Commons
Tuesday 24th
Environment Bill - Debate - Further to consider the Bill (at 9:25 am and at 2:00pm) Location: Room 10, Palace of Westminster
Thursday 26th
Environment Bill - Debate - Further to consider the Bill (at 11:30 am and at 2:00pm) Location: Room 10, Palace of Westminster
House of Lords
Monday 23rd
Legislation - United Kingdom Internal Market Bill - report stage (day 2)
Wednesday 25th
Legislation - United Kingdom Internal Market Bill - report stage (day 3)
Orders and regulations - European Union (Withdrawal) Act 2018 (Relevant Court) (Retained EU Case Law) Regulations 2020
In Events
Deal or no deal: are we ready for the end of the transition period?
When: 3rd December, 15.30-16.30
Where: Zoom
Register: here
As the UK continues to grapple with the impacts of the pandemic, the uncertainty around Brexit, and what happens next continues.
Regardless of whether a deal on the future relationship is agreed, the UK will still need to implement a whole host of changes to accommodate our exit from the European Union, from implementing the Northern Ireland Protocol, replacing EU funding to ensuring food and medicine supply lines run smoothly after exit day.
Against the backdrop of the ongoing pandemic, how prepared is the UK for the end of the transition period? And if a deal is agreed, what will it look like and what does it mean for our rights and standards?
Joining us to answer these questions and more is:
Katy Hayward, Professor of Political Sociology (Queen’s University Belfast) and Senior Fellow at UK in a Changing Europe
David Lawrence, Senior Political Adviser, Trade Justice Movement
Maddy Thimont Jack, Senior Researcher, Institute for Government
Charles Whitmore, Co-ordinator of the Wales Civil Society Forum on Brexit
This event is part of the ‘Brexit, Devolution & Rights' webinar series, co-hosted by the Brexit Civil Society Alliance, the Wales Civil Society Forum on Brexit, the Human Rights Consortiums in Scotland and Northern Ireland and SULNE. The webinar series will explore what the next stages of Brexit and beyond mean for fundamental rights across the 4 parts of the UK.
The session will be held on Zoom and the link to join the meeting will be sent on the day of the event. Please note that the webinar will be delivered in English.
This Is Important: Devolution and Brexit
The latest episode of This Is Important, a podcast series by the Brexit Civil Society Alliance, is in your podcast player now.
Learn from Daniel Wincott (Cardiff University) how devolution works, the relationship between Westminster and devolved administrations, the tensions the Brexit process has highlighted, and what might be done to secure the devolved settlements for the future.
Understand how civil society organisations work in a devolved context from Mhairi Snowden (Human Rights Consortium Scotland) as Mhairi explains what it is like to work with the Scottish Parliament, how that differs to Westminster, and the lessons learnt from the Brexit process for organisations aiming to make change.
Listen and subscribe at bit.ly/This_Is_Important or search "This Is Important" in your favourite podcast app. We are on all major platforms including Apple Podcasts.
Recommended Reading
NICVA Calls on Chancellor to Devolve Post-Brexit Funding to NI here
Brexit: Council in Wales “to have stronger role” in replacement aid scheme on the BBC