Draft Trade Barriers (Revocation) (EU Exit) Regulations 2018

Oliver Letwin Excerpts

Tuesday 27th November 2018 General Committees

[Sir Oliver Letwin (West Dorset) (Con)]

I remember trying desperately, in our long years of opposition, to manufacture questions to ask from the Opposition Benches in Committees like this one. There was a strong sense of that today, but the shadow Minister did raise one interesting and important question about timing, on which it would be helpful to hear the Minister’s comments.

The Opposition spokesman said that he would like to know what will happen if we leave without an agreement. I do not actually find that situation puzzling, because I take it that if we leave without an agreement, the draft regulations will need to be revoked on exit day—they will be meaningless because we will no longer be part of the show and no longer have any connection with the Commission. I am more interested in the other side of his question.

What if there is a withdrawal agreement, either because the Prime Minister’s deal remains intact or because a variant deal is eventually agreed on, and we assume, from the current text of the withdrawal agreement, the existence of a transitional period? The significance of this point goes considerably wider than the draft regulations, but are the Government assuming that during the transition period—when we will be bound by all the rules of the single market, all the customs arrangements of the customs union and so forth—the Commission will not speak on behalf of UK businesses in relation to ongoing operational issues such as trade barriers? If that is the presumption, where is it specified in the withdrawal agreement? I read it as specifying the opposite.

Secondly, if during the transition period the Government are approached through the new digital and formal system, which sounds admirable in conception at least, will they co-operate with the Commission in taking forward these issues with foreign jurisdictions, given that we will still be part of all the arrangements, or will they act alone? If so, will they be given a locus by other jurisdictions, given that we are still bound to all the customs and single market operations during the transition period? I cannot say that that question is of the greatest possible importance with respect to the draft regulations, because I doubt that there will be many such cases, but it would be interesting to get an indication of how the Government are thinking about that relationship in general during the transition period. I am somewhat mystified about how it will operate.