EU-UK Trade and Cooperation Agreement

Baroness Ritchie of Downpatrick Excerpts

Friday 8th January 2021 Lords Chamber

[Baroness Ritchie of Downpatrick (Non-Afl) [V]]

My Lords, I take this opportunity to look at the agreement as it intersects with the Northern Ireland/Ireland protocol. Undoubtedly, the agreement is very complicated and it will take a long time to work out the processes, but I say to the Minister that there have already been teething problems with food supplies from the large supermarkets in Britain to Northern Ireland and those processes need to be simplified. Apparently, there were problems last week caused by issues at the port of Dover.

There are four overriding concerns for Northern Ireland as they bear down on the TCA and the protocol, and I would like the Minister to address them in his wind-up. How will the evolution of the TCA be connected to that of the protocol? How will the governance of the protocol, including its unique institutions for that purpose, be linked into relevant areas of governance for the agreement—for example, in the specialised committees for SPS measures? How will the British/Irish and north/south strands work to develop substantive and serious bilateral arrangements to meet the gaps in the agreement and the common travel area? When the real impact of Brexit takes effect in Britain and the EU, how much care and flexibility will either of them be prepared to show the small but fragile region of Northern Ireland, on the periphery of both?

Finally, will the Minister have conversations with his colleagues in Defra about the fisheries? I know that fisheries were not dealt with in the legislation, so when will there be supplementary legislation, and will there be enhanced funding for the improvement of infrastructure to facilitate all the fish that the fishermen will be catching?