Question to the Cabinet Office:

To ask Her Majesty's Government what powers will be exercised by the European Commission in Northern Ireland after the end of the transition period of the UK's departure from the EU; and within what legal framework any such powers will be exercised.

Further to my answer to PQ HL9634, all rules applied in Northern Ireland will be administered by the UK authorities.

As the Government set out in its Command Paper in May, the Northern Ireland Protocol applies a small subset of EU rules concerning goods and electricity markets for so long as the people of Northern Ireland vote to keep such arrangements in place.

Furthermore, in the case of any breach related to the Protocol the UK Government would always activate the appropriate formal dispute settlement mechanisms established under the Protocol in order to seek an appropriate solution.

Otherwise, the rules that apply to businesses and citizens in Northern Ireland derive from UK law, including rules given effect by EU (Withdrawal) Act 2018. The rules on how to interpret rules given effect by retained EU law, which the courts must follow, are set out in section 6 of the EU Withdrawal Act. The 2018 Act also provides for the dedicated mechanism, which also protects citizens in NI from any diminution of their human rights as a result of the UK's withdrawal from the EU.