Asked by: John Redwood (Conservative - Wokingham)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, on what basis his Department calculated that only three per cent of EU law would apply to Northern Ireland under the Windsor Agreement.
Answered by Leo Docherty - Minister of State (Ministry of Defence) (Minister for the Armed Forces)
The EU's calculation is that less than 3% of EU law is applicable in Northern Ireland.
Asked by: John Redwood (Conservative - Wokingham)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, with reference to The Windsor Framework: a new way forward, published in February 2023, if he will publish specific details of the 1,700 pages of EU law that will be disapplied under the Windsor Agreement.
Answered by Leo Docherty - Minister of State (Ministry of Defence) (Minister for the Armed Forces)
The UK Government is committed to taking the necessary steps to uphold the UK's international obligations, including the Withdrawal Agreement and the Windsor Framework, as set out in the previous answer. As also set out, all of the rules disapplied are set out in the legal texts published as part of the Windsor Framework. By the EU's own calculations, less than 3 percent of EU rules apply - with those that remain only applying to secure maximum free trade and market access for Northern Ireland firms. It should also be recognised that this is not a straightforward list, as some of those rules will be applied in part for the red lane but not applied in the green lane, for example. But, for example:
· Annex 1 of the Sanitary and Phytosanitary (SPS) legal text shows that 67 rules on food and drink do not apply in the green lane - covering issues like marketing standards, food supplements and additives, and the production of organic products. It also disapplies the certification requirements in the EU Official Controls Regulation, as well as the prohibitions on various movements set out therein.
· Requirements in the Union Customs Code (UCC) for rules of origin certificates, tariffs, and commodity codes for each movement do not apply for internal UK trade; nor are there any requirements for customs declarations for consumer parcels, which are classified automatically as "not at risk". And we have secured unfettered access by removing any need for export declarations or equivalent information for goods moving from Northern Ireland to Great Britain as would otherwise have been set out in the UCC.
· In a similar vein, and as noted previously, the requirements in the VAT Directive which prevented the zero-rating of energy-saving materials has been disapplied, enabling the changes we brought forward in Parliament this week; as have limits on alcohol duty structures in EU rules harmonising excise duty structures.
· And for medicines we have disapplied any role for the European Medicines Agency in authorising medicines for the UK market, as otherwise set out in EU rules on the authorisation and supervision of medicinal products; and removed packaging any other requirements in the Falsified Medicines Directive.
These changes have safeguarded Northern Ireland's place in the Union and our internal market, while continuing to support Northern Ireland's businesses by providing them access to the whole UK market as well as the EU market.
Asked by: John Redwood (Conservative - Wokingham)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, with reference to the Windsor Framework, published on 27 February 2023, CP 806, what EU VAT rules and requirements will apply to Northern Ireland under that agreement.
Answered by Leo Docherty - Minister of State (Ministry of Defence) (Minister for the Armed Forces)
The Windsor Framework secures substantive, legally binding changes, ensuring that Northern Ireland will benefit from the same VAT and alcohol taxes as apply in the rest of the United Kingdom. It specifically amends the legal text of the treaty to provide these critical freedoms and to lock in flexibility for the future.
Under these arrangements, the Government will restore the integrity of the UK internal market and UK VAT and excise area:
● The Windsor Framework enables the Government to bring forward legislation to ensure that Northern Ireland will be able to apply zero rates of VAT to the installation of energy-saving materials such as heat pumps and solar panels - rectifying the disparity between Great Britain and Northern Ireland.
● It ensures that reforms to alcohol duties, due to take effect this summer, will apply right across the UK from the outset - meaning cheaper pints in pubs and a clearer set of duties overall.
● It removes the limit on the number of reduced and zero rates in Northern Ireland, ensuring parity across the United Kingdom.
● It delivers full flexibility on rates in the future, by establishing new categories that can be applied for VAT purposes where goods are connected to property or consumed in Northern Ireland.
● It protects Northern Ireland's second-hand car market into the future with a new scheme to take effect from 1 May 2023, ending two years of uncertainty for traders and consumers.
● It exempts Northern Ireland businesses from a range of bureaucratic EU rules: saving 2,000 Northern Ireland businesses from needing to register for VAT under a 2025 EU Directive; and avoiding a range of other new burdens on SMEs, and divergence with Great Britain.
● And it establishes a brand new mechanism, first proposed in the UK's 2021 Command Paper, enabling the UK and EU to look at future EU rule changes and make further legally binding changes to resolve any distortive impacts that new EU red tape could cause.
Asked by: John Redwood (Conservative - Wokingham)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, with reference to the Windsor Framework, published on 27 February 2023, CP 806, how many pages of EU law and regulation will apply to Northern Ireland under that agreement.
Answered by Leo Docherty - Minister of State (Ministry of Defence) (Minister for the Armed Forces)
Only the absolute minimum (less than 3 percent) of EU law continues to apply in Northern Ireland, to avoid a hard border and maintain Northern Ireland's unique access to the EU market, alongside its unfettered access to the UK internal market. Under the Windsor Framework, more than 1,700 pages of EU law will be disapplied for UK internal trade. The rules that are disapplied are set out in the legal instruments giving effect to the Windsor Framework. It will be for elected representatives in NI to determine whether those rules should apply at all in 2024 under the democratic consent mechanism, and where those rules are amended in the future they will be subject to the democratic safeguard in the Stormont Brake.
Asked by: John Redwood (Conservative - Wokingham)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, with reference to the Windsor Framework, published on 27 February 2023, CP 806, what EU requirements and rules on Excise taxes will apply to Northern Ireland under the Windsor Agreement.
Answered by Leo Docherty - Minister of State (Ministry of Defence) (Minister for the Armed Forces)
The Windsor Framework secures substantive, legally binding changes, ensuring that Northern Ireland will benefit from the same VAT and alcohol taxes as apply in the rest of the United Kingdom. It specifically amends the legal text of the treaty to provide these critical freedoms and to lock in flexibility for the future.
Under these arrangements, the Government will restore the integrity of the UK internal market and UK VAT and excise area:
● The Windsor Framework enables the Government to bring forward legislation to ensure that Northern Ireland will be able to apply zero rates of VAT to the installation of energy-saving materials such as heat pumps and solar panels - rectifying the disparity between Great Britain and Northern Ireland.
● It ensures that reforms to alcohol duties, due to take effect this summer, will apply right across the UK from the outset - meaning cheaper pints in pubs and a clearer set of duties overall.
● It removes the limit on the number of reduced and zero rates in Northern Ireland, ensuring parity across the United Kingdom.
● It delivers full flexibility on rates in the future, by establishing new categories that can be applied for VAT purposes where goods are connected to property or consumed in Northern Ireland.
● It protects Northern Ireland's second-hand car market into the future with a new scheme to take effect from 1 May 2023, ending two years of uncertainty for traders and consumers.
● It exempts Northern Ireland businesses from a range of bureaucratic EU rules: saving 2,000 Northern Ireland businesses from needing to register for VAT under a 2025 EU Directive; and avoiding a range of other new burdens on SMEs, and divergence with Great Britain.
● And it establishes a brand new mechanism, first proposed in the UK's 2021 Command Paper, enabling the UK and EU to look at future EU rule changes and make further legally binding changes to resolve any distortive impacts that new EU red tape could cause.
Asked by: John Redwood (Conservative - Wokingham)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, with reference to the Windsor Framework, published on 27 February 2023, CP 806, under what circumstances the UK can leave the Windsor Agreement.
Answered by Leo Docherty - Minister of State (Ministry of Defence) (Minister for the Armed Forces)
The Windsor Framework is subject to the democratic consent mechanism agreed in 2019, which means it is for elected representatives in NI to determine whether those provisions of EU law, applied solely and only to the extent necessary to maintain maximum free trade and market access for NI, should continue to apply.
Asked by: John Redwood (Conservative - Wokingham)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, with reference to the Windsor Framework, published on 27 February 2023, CP 806, in what way disputes between the EU and UK over that agreement will be adjudicated.
Answered by Leo Docherty - Minister of State (Ministry of Defence) (Minister for the Armed Forces)
With the Windsor Framework now agreed, there is a sustainable basis for the future operation of arrangements in Northern Ireland. In case of any future issues, both parties have made a clear commitment to look to resolve them through dialogue rather than looking to dispute proceedings. This is reflected in the fact that the EU will no longer proceed with the live cases it had brought against the United Kingdom.
Asked by: John Redwood (Conservative - Wokingham)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what steps the Government takes to assess the suitability and value for money of (a) projects organised by and (b) grants from international organisations.
Answered by Andrew Mitchell - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office) (Minister for Development)
The suitability and value for money of international organisations receiving Official Development Assistance (ODA), including the projects they organise and grants they provide, is continually assessed through FCDO annual reviews and business cases, as set out in the Department's Programme Operating Framework.
The Independent Commission for Aid Impact (ICAI) independently scrutinises UK ODA to international organisations to assess value for money and impact, including recent ICAI reviews of tackling fraud in multilateral organisations and of the UK's work with the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria (GFATM). The UK is also a member of the Multilateral Organisation Performance Assessment Network (MOPAN), which carries out regular assessments of multilateral organisations.
Asked by: John Redwood (Conservative - Wokingham)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what unrestricted aid funding the Government provides to international organisations.
Answered by Andrew Mitchell - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office) (Minister for Development)
In 2021 £4,277 million of UK Official Development Assistance (ODA) was delivered through core contributions to multilateral organisations. This was 37.4 per cent of the total UK ODA budget.
Multilateral organisations, including the United Nations, global health and education funds, the international financial institutions and the Commonwealth are essential partners in achieving the UK's goals. The UK uses its voice on multilateral boards to ensure decisions align with UK priorities, including how and where their funds are spent.
Asked by: John Redwood (Conservative - Wokingham)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, how much additional aid for Ukraine she plans to allocate from the Official Development Assistance budget.
Answered by Amanda Milling - Government Whip, Lord Commissioner of HM Treasury
It has not proved possible to respond to the hon. Member in the time available before Prorogation.