Treaty Scrutiny: Working Practices (EUC Report)

Lord Boswell of Aynho Excerpts

Monday 7th September 2020 Grand Committee

[Lord Boswell of Aynho (Non-Afl) [V]]

My Lords, I am pleased to participate in this important debate. Colleagues may be relieved that, having signed one of the reports under discussion today—and the remarkable range of consensus is striking—this will, I believe, be the last duty arising from my seven years of chairing the EU Committee. This stretch was almost bisected by the Brexit referendum and, incidentally, amounted in total to roughly the same time I spent as a Minister in the other place. I remain unsure in which role I acted as poacher and in which as gamekeeper. Today I want to emphasise the importance of effective treaty scrutiny.

First, and emphatically not as a formality, I record my support for the noble Earl, Lord Kinnoull, who has succeeded me as chair, and for colleagues across the House who give their time and formidable expertise, together with my appreciation of our admirable parliamentary staff, whose support has been unfailing. This enabled us swiftly to assume on behalf of the House the additional role of scrutinising continuity trade deals. The weakness of the CRaG Act procedure became quickly apparent. We have fallen behind the scrutiny mechanism available to most of our fellow democracies, to the extent that if we achieve a post-Brexit deal with the EU, ratification could be as much of interest to any EU regional parliament as to this one, although of course the issues today are of much wider application even than Brexit.

Effective treaty scrutiny is an important technical issue, but equally one of high political sensitivity. In my time in the EU Committee I have experienced a variety of poor responses from the Government, ranging from the casual to the downright obstructive. In fairness, sometimes these have been interspersed with more positive engagement with Ministers and contacts between various officials. I believe that scrutiny remains an essential component of good governance—just as, if I may say, Covid testing is essential in handling the pandemic, even if it sometimes reveals inconvenient facts. My strong advice—and it is reflected in all three reports being considered today—is for us collectively to be ready to use our elbows to expand the role of treaty scrutiny. It needs to take place across the whole spectrum, from consideration of negotiating mandates to final ratification and the associated implementing legislation, and to be based on the principle of transparency wherever possible.

There will be a predictable response from government —as a former Minister, I know the playbook—along the lines of cramping government discretion, creating diplomatic embarrassments, and so forth. I recognise that these are sometimes entirely valid objections, but they are not universal ones. If necessary, we are mature enough here to receive sensitive material appropriately without betraying confidences, and we have the collective expertise to make a positive contribution to the national interest. The admirable report of the new sub-committee shows also the need for the implications for the devolved Administrations, Crown Dependencies and other stakeholders to be understood, and it gives a flavour of the growing complexity as treaties evolve from the traditionally purely diplomatic into trade agreements which themselves may also carry other, wider implications.

Finally, although this is not strictly an issue of direct treaty scrutiny, I am sure the House will wish to remain alert in the analysis of the impact of outcomes arising from treaties on our economy and society over the years. To judge by breaking overnight news, we may also wish to interest ourselves in the Government’s compliance with international law in respect of the treaties they have concluded.