Hilary Benn
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Future Relationship with the EU
Hilary Benn Excerpts(4 years, 4 months ago)
Commons ChamberRead Full debate Read Hansard Text Read Debate Ministerial Extracts
Penny Mordaunt
My hon. Friend makes a good point. The German constitutional court decision emphasises the point that we are a sovereign equal, and the EU needs to accept that. That decision will obviously have implications for the EU to consider.
Hilary Benn (Leeds Central) (Lab)
Article 131 of the political declaration states that if a dispute raises a question of interpretation of Union law,
“the arbitration panel should refer the question to the Court of Justice of the European Union…for a binding ruling as regards the interpretation of Union law.”
Given what the Minister just said, do the Government still stand by the commitment that the Prime Minister signed up to in October?
Penny Mordaunt
The political declaration is not a treaty and there will be differences on both sides as to its interpretation. The point we have emphasised in the past few days is that the EU cannot be the referee in that.