Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:

To ask Her Majesty's Government, further to the remarks by Lord Henley on 20 March (HL Deb, col 219) that they will seek a "close association" with Euratom after Brexit, what areas they seek to cover in such an association; whether they have engaged in (1) meetings, and (2) correspondence, with Euratom about such an association; if not, when they will approach Euratom about such an association; and whether they will report on progress on that issue in the regular reports to Parliament provided for in the Nuclear Safeguards Bill.

The Government has made clear that its ambition for a close association with the Euratom Community after the UK’s withdrawal from the European Union includes seeking a close association with the Euratom Research and Training Programme, including the Joint European Torus (JET) and the International Thermonuclear Experimental Reactor (ITER) projects; continuity of open trade arrangements for nuclear goods and products to ensure that the nuclear industry is able to continue to trade across EU borders without disruption; and close and effective cooperation with Euratom on nuclear safety.

The negotiations on the future relationship between the UK and the EU have not yet begun so no formal meetings have yet taken place on the nature of the future relationship with Euratom. The Government has ensured that the European Commission is aware of the Government’s January Ministerial Statement setting out the UK’s objective of close association on Euratom and what this would cover. This was reinforced in my right hon. Friend the Prime Minister’s speech at Mansion House on 2 March. The Government will continue to report on progress through its quarterly reports to Parliament, the first of which was made on 26 March.