European Union (Withdrawal) Bill

Lord Haskel Excerpts

Monday 19th March 2018 Lords Chamber

Moved by

[Lord Haskel]

214: After Clause 9, insert the following new Clause—
“Governance and institutional arrangements
(1) Before exit day, a Minister of the Crown must make provision that all powers and functions which form part of retained EU law, which relate to any right, freedom or protection that any person might reasonably expect to exercise, which were carried out by EU entities or other public authorities anywhere in the United Kingdom before exit day, and which do not cease as a result of the withdrawal agreement (“relevant powers and functions”), will—(a) continue to be carried out by an EU entity or public authority;(b) be carried out by an appropriate existing or newly established entity or public authority in the United Kingdom; or(c) be carried out by an appropriate international entity or public authority.(2) For the purposes of this section, relevant powers and functions include, but are not limited to—(a) monitoring and measuring compliance with legal requirements;(b) reviewing and reporting on compliance with legal requirements;(c) enforcement of legal requirements;(d) setting standards or targets;(e) co-ordinating action;(f) publicising information. (3) Responsibility for any powers and functions as defined in subsection (1) for which no specific provision has been made immediately after commencement of this Act will belong to a relevant Minister until such a time as specific provision has been made.”

[Lord Haskel (Lab)]

My Lords, Amendment 214 is about retaining our standards after we leave the EU. These are the standards of the goods and services we consume, the standards that maintain protections for individual and consumer rights, the environment, employment and a whole host of things. These standards underpin what ordinary citizens have come to regard as normal in their everyday life. Quite simply, many of the standards that we have come to accept as normal are set, and enforced, by EU institutions. When the UK leaves the EU, we will lose the benefits of these EU governance institutions, and it is not clear that they will be replaced. The amendment would create a duty to ensure that any governance or regulatory function relating to this that is currently exercised by an EU institution would be transposed into UK law.

It may be impossible to replicate the highly expert and specialised institutions which the EU has built over many years, but if a governance function is to be abolished, or just not replaced, there should be a proper debate and the Government should go about it in the proper way, through the parliamentary process. The amendment would ensure that these standards can be enforced, with clear options for redress should disputes arise and with clear dispute resolution procedures if the European Court of Justice is not involved.

In addition, these institutions would have to be independent. The European Environment Agency can threaten to take a British Government to court for not maintaining air quality standards. This is why the Government are busily making proposals to satisfy those standards. If the enforcement agency was just another branch of government, that would undoubtedly compromise the enforcement.

Why is it important to do this now? Surely we can leave it for later. No, we cannot. These institutions ensure that day-to-day decisions made by national and local government, and in public agencies, do not undermine these important standards and protections. That is why the principle has to be in place from day one. It also has to be in place then because, as the debate on amendments to Clause 6 made clear, where there is regulatory alignment on standards it is unclear how courts will interpret EU decisions in the event of disputes.

This amendment would ensure that, even with its lack of clarity on enforcement, our standards must not drop. Indeed, in the debate on Amendment 144, several noble Lords were concerned about the lack of clarity and certainty in the mutual recognition of standards in food, transport, professional qualifications and communications. In his response, the Minister spoke of the Government being,

“committed to maintaining high standards”,

but in a manner,

“still to be determined.—[Official Report, 14/3/18; col.1602.]

Presumably, this is because negotiations are taking place. I suppose we all have to live with that, but this amendment would help us to do so. It would deal with our concerns so that, whatever the outcome of these negotiations, the standards that are so important in our way of life will not be sacrificed. The article by the noble Lord, Lord Pannick, in the Times also touches on this. For instance, we all need to be assured that we will not alter or lower the standards of the general protection rules on data, because these govern the transfer and exchange of data. Doing so would have an absolutely devastating effect on data moving freely, impacting on the lives of millions of people.

--- Later in debate ---

[Lord Haskel]

My Lords, I thank all noble Lords for their support for the amendment and I thank the noble Baroness, Lady Jones, for adding her name to it. I do not think that her doing so has diminished it in any way at all. In response to the noble Lord, Lord Spicer, standards do help free trade because without them we enter into a race to the bottom. I thank my noble and learned friend Lord Goldsmith for making the point about parliamentary scrutiny, and I would say to the Minister that I do think this is a matter for the Bill. As I said, we are not seeking to affect the negotiations that are under way; what we seek is an assurance that our standards will not drop. It is in the Government’s hands to give that assurance. I shall study carefully what noble Lords have said and I beg leave to withdraw the amendment.

Amendment 214 withdrawn.