European Council

Stephen Kinnock Excerpts

Monday 18th December 2017 Commons Chamber

[The Prime Minister]

I am happy to give my hon. Friend that reassurance. We envisage negotiating a separate treaty to cover the security arrangements. There are a number of programmes and operations in which we are involved in the European Union that we think it would be beneficial for us to continue to be able to access precisely to maintain the security of people here, but also in the EU 27.

[Stephen Kinnock (Aberavon) (Lab)]

Referring to the transition period, the conclusions of the European Council make the position clear. It says:

“In order to ensure a level playing field based on the same rules applying throughout the Single Market, changes to the acquis adopted by EU institutions and bodies will have to apply both in the United Kingdom and the EU.”

Will the Prime Minister please confirm, therefore, that the jurisdiction of the European Court of Justice will apply in precisely the same way now as it will during the transition period?

[The Prime Minister]

I have answered a question on that in previous statements that I have made in relation to the matter. We would expect, yes, that the European Court of Justice jurisdiction would start very similarly at the beginning of that implementation period, but as I said in response to one of my hon. Friends earlier, we are also clear that, if it is possible to negotiate, for example, the dispute resolution mechanism at an earlier stage and introduce it at an earlier stage, we would do precisely that.