European Union: Court of Justice

Lord Hannan of Kingsclere Excerpts

Wednesday 26th February 2025 Lords Chamber

[Baroness Anderson of Stoke-on-Trent (Lab)]

My Lords, the negotiated deal in the Windsor Framework and the update, Safeguarding the Union, had a very clear role. We are doing everything we can to deliver on Safeguarding the Union; as colleagues will know, I work regularly with noble Lords from Northern Ireland to do that, as do the rest of my colleagues on the Front Bench.

With regard to the role of the ECJ and associated courts, those are not specifically relevant to this, but I will update the House if I am wrong.

[Lord Hannan of Kingsclere (Con)]

My Lords, I wonder why any third country would sign a trade agreement with us as long as we have passed part of our regulation to the control of a body that is beyond us and may in the future make all manner of decisions that are not foreseeable today.

[Baroness Anderson of Stoke-on-Trent (Lab)]

I thank the noble Lord for his question and obviously appreciate his expertise in this area. Let me be clear that we have left the European Union. We continue to engage with the European Union as our largest trade partner—it represents £823 billion-worth of trade across the piece—and we will continue to work in the best interests of our nation.