Asked by: Jacob Rees-Mogg (Conservative - North East Somerset)
Question to the Department for Exiting the European Union :
To ask the Secretary of State for Exiting the European Union, what assessment he has made of the ability of the EU to reach a legally binding agreement with the UK on a future trading relationship across the border between Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland, including a border in the Irish Sea, in advance of the UK leaving the EU.
Answered by Chris Heaton-Harris
The future UK-EU trading relationship, which we are clear should ensure frictionless trade and avoid the need for a hard border, will need to be provided for in an agreement to be concluded once the the UK has left the EU. The EU will conclude the agreement under the procedure in Article 218 TFEU. The Withdrawal Agreement, which will include a legally operative Northern Ireland Protocol, needs to come into force when the UK leaves the EU. The PM has made clear that the customs solution in the Northern Ireland Protocol should be legally binding and UK wide, to ensure there is no scope for a customs border down the Irish Sea.
Asked by: Jacob Rees-Mogg (Conservative - North East Somerset)
Question to the Department for Exiting the European Union :
To ask the Secretary of State for Exiting the European Union, what assessment he has made of the ability of the EU to reach a legally-binding agreement with the UK on a future trading relationship in advance of the UK leaving the EU.
Answered by Chris Heaton-Harris
As the Prime Minister made clear in her Statement to the House on Monday (22-10-2018), the Future Framework agreement will take the form of a political declaration that will accompany and be referred to in the Withdrawal Agreement. Although the EU is only able legally to conclude the final agreements on the future relationship once the UK has left the EU in March 2019, this political declaration will nevertheless carry significant force.
Asked by: Jacob Rees-Mogg (Conservative - North East Somerset)
Question to the Department for Exiting the European Union :
To ask the Secretary of State for Exiting the European Union, how many outstanding (a) official investigations and (b) legal cases there are led by the European Commission and involving UK nationals employed within EU institutions who have acted as whistle-blowers against alleged malpractice or fraud; what steps the Government is taking to pursue these investigations and cases notwithstanding the negotiations on the UK leaving the EU; and if he will make a statement.
Answered by Suella Braverman
The Government does not monitor or track cases which the EU has instigated against its own staff, including if those staff are of UK nationality as these individuals have no connection with HMG. The European Commission is best to placed to answer how many outstanding cases there are.