Asked by: Paul Blomfield (Labour - Sheffield Central)
Question to the Department for Exiting the European Union :
To ask the Secretary of State for Exiting the European Union, what the Government's policy is on adapting domestic law in the case of changes to existing EU regulations that will come into force after the UK has left the EU.
Answered by Steve Baker - Minister of State (Northern Ireland Office)
After March 29, 2019, the UK will no longer be a Member State of the European Union. The UK and the EU have now agreed the terms of an implementation period, during which EU rules and regulations will continue to apply as now. This will give businesses and citizens certainty, and allow them to continue to trade on the same terms as now up until the end of 2020.
The agreement will be underpinned by a duty of good faith and governed by a Joint Committee to ensure it is faithfully and fully implemented by both sides.
As we move towards our future partnership with the EU, we will need to discuss how we manage the relationship once we are two separate legal systems.
Asked by: Paul Blomfield (Labour - Sheffield Central)
Question to the Department for Exiting the European Union :
To ask the Secretary of State for Exiting the European Union, what his policy is on implementing EU regulations which have implementation acts set to be drafted after the UK has left the EU.
Answered by Steve Baker - Minister of State (Northern Ireland Office)
After March 29, 2019, the UK will no longer be a Member State of the European Union. The UK and the EU have now agreed the terms of an implementation period, during which EU rules and regulations will continue to apply as now. This will give businesses and citizens certainty, and allow them to continue to trade on the same terms as now up until the end of 2020.
The agreement will be underpinned by a duty of good faith and governed by a Joint Committee to ensure it is faithfully and fully implemented by both sides.
As we move towards our future partnership with the EU, we will need to discuss how we manage the relationship once we are two separate legal systems.
Asked by: Paul Blomfield (Labour - Sheffield Central)
Question to the Department for Exiting the European Union :
To ask the Secretary of State for Exiting the European Union, what his policy is on adopting future EU regulations after the UK has left the EU.
Answered by Steve Baker - Minister of State (Northern Ireland Office)
After March 29, 2019, the UK will no longer be a Member State of the European Union. The UK and the EU have now agreed the terms of an implementation period, during which EU rules and regulations will continue to apply as now. This will give businesses and citizens certainty, and allow them to continue to trade on the same terms as now up until the end of 2020.
The agreement will be underpinned by a duty of good faith and governed by a Joint Committee to ensure it is faithfully and fully implemented by both sides.
As we move towards our future partnership with the EU, we will need to discuss how we manage the relationship once we are two separate legal systems.
Asked by: Paul Blomfield (Labour - Sheffield Central)
Question to the Department for Exiting the European Union :
To ask the Secretary of State for Exiting the European Union, with reference to the NAO report entitled The Department for Exiting the European Union and the centre of government, HC 593, published on 17 November 2017, if he will place a list of the 313 Exit work streams identified in that report in the Library.
Answered by Steve Baker - Minister of State (Northern Ireland Office)
The Department for Exiting the European Union is working closely with all departments to ensure our preparations for exit from and new partnership with the EU are on track. The Department has established a series of arrangements to coordinate departments’ planning and delivery.
As indicated in the National Audit Office report, departments have identified Exit work streams that are used to structure engagement with DExEU. The structure and development of work streams is part of ongoing cross-Government work to develop and assess potential policy options. The number of work streams is being updated regularly but because the nature of this internal work could be sensitive to ongoing negotiations, we will not be publishing the full list.
Asked by: Paul Blomfield (Labour - Sheffield Central)
Question to the Department for Exiting the European Union :
To ask the Secretary of State for Exiting the European Union, with reference to the report of the National Audit Office, The Department for Exiting the European Union and the centre of government, HC 593, published on 17 November 2017, if he will make available to (a) the Select Committee for Exiting the European Union and (b) all Members of Parliament, on a confidential basis, the 313 Exit work streams identified in that report.
Answered by Steve Baker - Minister of State (Northern Ireland Office)
The Department for Exiting the European Union is working closely with all departments to ensure our preparations for exit from and new partnership with the EU are on track. The Department has established a series of arrangements to coordinate departments’ planning and delivery.
As indicated in the National Audit Office report, departments have identified Exit work streams that are used to structure engagement with DExEU. The structure and development of work streams is part of ongoing cross-Government work to develop and assess potential policy options. The number of work streams is being updated regularly but because the nature of this internal work could be sensitive to ongoing negotiations, we will not be publishing the full list.
Asked by: Paul Blomfield (Labour - Sheffield Central)
Question to the Department for Exiting the European Union :
To ask the Secretary of State for Exiting the European Union, whether he will seek confirmation from EU negotiators that paragraph 47 of the Joint Technical Note of 8 December 2017, on healthcare arrangements, will extend, upon retirement, to (a) persons whose competent state is the UK and are in the EU 27 but have not retired on the specified date of the UK's withdrawal from the EU and (b) persons whose competent state is an EU 27 country and are in the UK but have not retired on the specified date.
Answered by Robin Walker
From the very beginning the Prime Minister has been clear that safeguarding the rights of EU citizens living in the UK and UK nationals living in the EU was her first priority for negotiations.
We have now reached an agreement with the EU on reciprocal healthcare arrangements for the purposes of the Withdrawal Agreement, including for UK and EU27 state pensioners who are in scope of the agreement, including those that have not yet reached retirement.
As part of this, reciprocal healthcare rights for UK state pensioners resident in the EU27 who have not yet reached retirement on the specified date are protected in their Member State of residence, once they start drawing their state pension. The same applies equally to EU27 state pensioners resident in the UK on the specified date who have not yet reached retirement.
Asked by: Paul Blomfield (Labour - Sheffield Central)
Question to the Department for Exiting the European Union :
To ask the Secretary of State for Exiting the European Union, whether citizens’ rights will continue to be a distinct strand of the UK's negotiations with the EU.
Answered by Robin Walker
Securing the rights of EU citizens in the UK and UK nationals in the EU was the first priority for the negotiations on the UK’s withdrawal from the European Union. The joint report on progress, published in December, details the high level agreements reached which will ensure that these rights are protected. We remain committed to honouring these agreements.
We are now moving into the second phase of negotiations. We know there are some issues on citizens’ rights that we had pushed hard to resolve in the first phase of negotiations, but were unable to as they were not within the EU’s negotiating mandate.
These are important issues for UK nationals, so we will continue to raise these issues as the negotiations progress.
Asked by: Paul Blomfield (Labour - Sheffield Central)
Question to the Department for Exiting the European Union :
To ask the Secretary of State for Exiting the European Union, whether it is the Government's policy to seek to preserve the existing rights of UK citizens living in an EU 27 country to (a) freedom of movement across the EU including the rights to work, run a business and provide services and (b) the recognition of their professional and academic qualifications after the UK has left the EU.
Answered by Robin Walker
The citizens’ rights agreement reached in December is a fair and reciprocal deal that will guarantee the rights of a million UK nationals living in the EU and more than three million EU citizens living in the UK - so they can carry on living their lives as before.
We pushed hard for onward movement for UK nationals living in the EU27 during negotiations, but the EU did not agree that this was a matter for the first phase of the negotiations. We know this is an important matter for UK citizens, so we will continue to raise this issue as negotiations progress.
For those covered under the Withdrawal Agreement, we have agreed the continued recognition of qualifications where recognition decisions were received, or where recognition procedures were ongoing, before the withdrawal date. This will cover qualifications recognised under the Mutual Recognition Professional Qualifications directive, lawyers practising under host title and approved statutory auditors.
Asked by: Paul Blomfield (Labour - Sheffield Central)
Question to the Department for Exiting the European Union :
To ask the Secretary of State for Exiting the European Union, whether it is the Government's policy to offer EU citizens with settled status in the UK a life-long right of return to the UK.
Answered by Robin Walker
The citizens’ rights agreement reached in December, and set out in our Joint Report, will provide EU citizens living in the UK with certainty about their rights going forward.
It will enable families who have built their lives together to stay together, and not only gives more certainty about residence, but also healthcare, pensions and other benefits.
Under the agreement, EU citizens who acquire settled status will lose their right to residence after absence for a period exceeding five consecutive years. This goes beyond the two year absence period that currently applies under EU law for those holding Permanent Residence.
Asked by: Paul Blomfield (Labour - Sheffield Central)
Question to the Department for Exiting the European Union :
To ask the Secretary of State for Exiting the European Union, whether it is the Government's policy to seek to ensure that EU nationals who come to the UK during an implementation period fall within the scope of the provisions on citizens' rights in the final withdrawal agreement between the UK and the EU.
Answered by Robin Walker
The citizens’ rights agreement reached in December, and set out in our Joint Report, will provide EU citizens living in the UK before we leave the EU on 29 March 2019 with certainty about their rights going forward. This agreement does not cover those arriving after we exit the EU.
During the implementation period, EU citizens will be able to continue to visit, live and work in the UK as they do now, but we will introduce a registration scheme in preparation for our future immigration system. This is an important step towards regaining full control of our borders.