European Union (Withdrawal Agreement) Act 2020

30 Certain dispute procedures under withdrawal agreement

After section 13A of the European Union (Withdrawal) Act 2018 (review of EU legislation during implementation period) (for which see section 29 above) insert—

“13B Certain dispute procedures under withdrawal agreement

(1) Subsection (2) applies if a request has been made under Article 170 of the withdrawal agreement to the other party in a dispute (request to establish an arbitration panel in relation to a dispute between the EU and the United Kingdom).

(2) A Minister of the Crown must, within the 14 day period beginning with the day on which the request is made, make a statement in writing to each House of Parliament that the request has been made and setting out the details of it.

(3) Subsection (4) applies if the European Court has given a ruling in response to a request by an arbitration panel under Article 174(1) of the withdrawal agreement (request for ruling by European Court on certain questions arising in a dispute submitted to arbitration).

(4) A Minister of the Crown must, within the 14 day period beginning with the publication in the Official Journal of the European Union of the ruling of the European Court, make a statement in writing to each House of Parliament that the ruling has been made and setting out the details of it contained in the Official Journal.

(5) After the end of each reporting period, a Minister of the Crown must lay before each House of Parliament a report setting out the number of times within the reporting period that the Joint Committee has been provided with notice under Article 169(1) of the withdrawal agreement (notice concerning the commencement of consultations in the Joint Committee to resolve a dispute between the EU and the United Kingdom about the interpretation and application of the withdrawal agreement).

(6) In this section—

• “reporting period” means—

  (a)

  the period of one year beginning with the day on which IP completion day falls, and

  (b)

  each subsequent year;

• “the 14 day period” means—

  (a)

  in relation to the House of Commons, the period of 14 Commons sitting days, and

  (b)

  in relation to the House of Lords, the period of 14 Lords sitting days.”