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European Union (Future Relationship) Act 2020

Contents

Policy background

  1. On 23 June 2016, a referendum was held in the UK and Gibraltar on whether the UK should remain a member of the EU. More than 33.5m people, some 72 per cent of registered voters, voted in the referendum and 52 per cent of those who voted, voted to leave the EU.
  2. The European Union (Notification of Withdrawal) Act 2017 was passed into law on 16 March 2017. This gave the Prime Minister the power to notify the European Council of the UK’s intention to withdraw from the EU under Article 50(2) of the Treaty on the European Union (TEU). This notification was then given on 29 March 2017.
  3. On 26 June 2018, the European Union (Withdrawal) Act 2018 (EUWA) passed into law. Its purpose is to give effect to withdrawal and to provide a functioning statute book when the UK leaves the EU.
  4. On 13 November 2017, the previous Government announced its intention to bring forward a new Act to implement the Withdrawal Agreement in domestic law. This confirmed that the major policies set out in the Withdrawal Agreement would be given effect in domestic law through new primary legislation, rather than by secondary legislation under what became the European Union (Withdrawal) Act 2018.
  5. On 14 November 2018, the previous Government published a draft of the Withdrawal Agreement (agreed at negotiator level). This Agreement was agreed by European leaders on 25 November 2018 and laid before Parliament on 26 November 2018.
  6. The Agreement was subject to votes in the House of Commons as prescribed under section 13 of the European Union (Withdrawal) Act 2018 on 15 January 2019 and 12 March 2019, whilst the Withdrawal Agreement alone, without the Political Declaration, was voted on by the House of Commons on 29 March 2019. The Agreement was rejected in all these votes. The Agreement was also subject to take note motions in the House of Lords.
  7. On 22 March 2019, the European Council and the United Kingdom agreed to an extension to the Article 50 period until 22 May 2019, provided the Withdrawal Agreement was approved by the House of Commons before 29 March 2019, or otherwise until 12 April 2019 (European Council Decision (EU) 2019/476, O.J. No. L 80 I, p.1). The definition of ‘exit day’ in the European Union (Withdrawal) Act 2018 was amended by statutory instrument, The European Union (Withdrawal) Act 2018 (Exit Day) (Amendment) Regulations 2019 (S.I. 2019/718), to reflect this, having been approved by the House of Commons and the House of Lords on 27 March 2019.
  8. On 5 April 2019, the then Prime Minister wrote to the then President of the European Council seeking a second extension of the Article 50 period. On 11 April 2019, the European Council and the UK agreed an extension to the Article 50 period until 31 October 2019 (European Council Decision (EU) 2019/584, O.J. No. L 101, p.1). This extension could be terminated early if the Withdrawal Agreement was ratified and came into force before this date. Following the conclusion of the European Council, a statutory instrument, The European Union (Withdrawal) Act 2018 (Exit Day) (Amendment) (No. 2) Regulations 2019 (S.I. 2019/859), was made under the negative procedure on 11 April amending the definition of ‘exit day’ in the European Union (Withdrawal) Act 2018 to 31 October 2019 at 11.00 p.m.
  9. On 23 May 2019, Prime Minister Theresa May resigned. Following a change in Government, Prime Minister Boris Johnson committed to negotiating a new Withdrawal Agreement. This Withdrawal Agreement was agreed by European leaders at the European Council on 17 October 2019. In addition, the Government made a unilateral declaration concerning the operation of the ‘Democratic consent in Northern Ireland’ provision of the Protocol on Ireland/Northern Ireland, which was published on the same day.
  10. On 19 October 2019, the Government laid before Parliament the new Withdrawal Agreement and new framework for the future relationship between the UK and the EU.
  11. On 21 October 2019, the European Union (Withdrawal Agreement) Bill was introduced to Parliament. The House of Commons voted for the Act at Second Reading, which passed by 329-299, but the House did not vote in favour of the timetable to debate the Act. On 30 October 2019, in accordance with the European Union (Withdrawal) (No. 2) Act 2019, an amendment to the definition of "exit day" was made to European Union (Withdrawal) Act 2018, amending the day of exit to 31 January 2020. Parliament subsequently legislated for an early general election and was dissolved on 6 November 2019.
  12. On 19 December 2019, the European Union (Withdrawal Agreement) Bill was introduced to Parliament.
  13. On 23 January 2020 the European Union (Withdrawal Agreement) Act 2020 was passed into law. The principal purpose of the Act was to implement the Withdrawal Agreement, the separation agreement between the UK and the EEA EFTA countries (EEA EFTA Separation Agreement) and the Swiss Citizens’ Rights Agreement.
  14. On 31 January 2020, the UK left the European Union and the Withdrawal Agreement concluded with the EU entered into force. The Transition Period provided for in that agreement ends at 11pm on 31 December 2020.
  15. On 2 March 2020, the first round of negotiations began.
  16. The Agreements were agreed by the UK and EU on 24 December 2020. The UK and EU have agreed to provisionally apply the Agreements from the end of the Transition Period ahead of ratification.
  17. On 30 December 2020 the European Union (Future Relationship) Bill was introduced to Parliament.

Approach to the European Union (Future Relationship) Act 2020

  1. The UK has a dualist legal system, in which an international treaty ratified by the Government, although binding in international law, does not alter the laws of the state unless and until the treaty is incorporated into domestic law by legislation. This means that the UK Parliament has to pass implementing legislation before an international treaty can have effect domestically.
  2. This Act is a necessary step in the process of ratifying the Agreements as international treaties.
  3. The principal purpose of the Act is to implement the Agreements. This is primarily done by way of detailed, specific provisions and amendments to existing legislation to meet the UK’s commitments under the Agreements. The Act also includes a general provision requiring existing domestic law to be modified to give effect to the Agreements, but only so far as necessary to implement the Agreements. The Act also provides a delegated power to be used to make further provision to give effect to the Agreements. In the event that the Agreements are not ratified and provisional application comes to an end, the Act enables the termination or suspension of domestic legal provisions that give effect to the Agreements.

Security

Criminal Records

  1. The Agreement provides for the fast and effective exchange of criminal records data between the UK and individual EU Member States. The arrangements include streamlined and time-limited processes for exchanging criminal records information and specifying that information can be exchanged for crime prevention and safeguarding purposes.
  2. The Act provides for criminal record exchange to allow UK law enforcement to send and receive conviction information for law enforcement purposes to and from the UK, thereby giving effect to the terms of the Agreement. The UK designated authority will act on behalf of all UK law enforcement agencies.

Passenger and Vehicle Registration Data

Passenger Name Record Data
  1. Passenger Name Record Data (PNR) data is a unique law enforcement tool which enables law enforcement authorities to identify previously unknown individuals who may be involved in terrorism or serious crime as well as individuals at risk of exploitation.
  2. The Act implements the TCA, which provides for transfers of PNR data from the EU to the UK. The Agreement is based on precedents for PNR Agreements between the EU and third countries, and provides for more frequent transfers of PNR data from airlines to the UK prior to flights taking off between the EU and the UK. The Agreement also provides for specific data protection safeguards, for an implementation period during which the UK will make necessary technical adjustments to its systems to effectively operate those safeguards, and for cooperation between the UK and EU authorities that use PNR data.
Biometric and Vehicle Registration Data Exchange
  1. The Act provides for Biometric data exchange. Biometric data exchange refers to the reciprocal searching and comparison of fingerprints and DNA profiles in databases in the UK and EU Member States. For example, states can search for a DNA profile in the databases held by other states, or compare unidentified DNA profiles, to determine whether there is a match. Where there is a match, the searching state may request that further available personal data and other information in relation to the relevant DNA profile be sent, subject to the domestic law and legal assistance rules of the requested state.
  2. Vehicle Registration Data Exchange refers to a procedure for states to search the contents of vehicle registration databases held in other states, using either vehicle chassis numbers or full registration numbers, and to obtain data from those databases relating to owners or operators of the vehicle and further data relating to that vehicle. Among other things, this may include the owner’s name and address, and the make and model of the relevant vehicle. Both biometric and vehicle registration data exchange can only occur for the law enforcement purposes set out in the Agreement.
  3. The TCA provides for the fast and effective exchange of national DNA, fingerprint and vehicle registration data between the UK and individual EU Member States to aid law enforcement agencies in investigating crime and terrorism. DNA and fingerprint data will continue to be exchanged through the Prüm system, and the Agreement enables the exchange of vehicle registration data in the future.

Evidence

Mutual Legal Assistance and Asset Freezing and Confiscation
  1. Mutual legal assistance (MLA) is a method of cooperation between states for obtaining assistance in the investigation or prosecution of criminal offences. MLA is generally used for obtaining material that cannot be obtained on a police cooperation basis, particularly for assistance that requires court authorisation before it can be carried out. An aspect of MLA is reciprocal assistance in the context of measures taken to identify, freeze and confiscate the proceeds of crime.
  2. The Act provides for the aspects of the TCA which support effective cooperation on MLA in criminal matters and asset freezing and confiscation, supplementing the relevant Council of Europe Conventions by providing for streamlined processes, including standard formats for making requests and specific timescales for action. On asset freezing and confiscation, the Agreement provides for more limited grounds for refusal of a request allowing for the broadest cooperation possible. On MLA, the Agreement provides for direct transmission, allowing UK prosecutors to send requests directly to competent authorities in EU Member States. This will ensure action can be taken quickly and effectively.

Extradition

  1. Extradition is the formal legal process by which a person accused or convicted of a crime is surrendered from one State to another for trial or punishment. The extradition of persons from the United Kingdom is governed by the Extradition Act 2003, ("the 2003 Act") which provides for two distinct sets of procedures to apply to incoming extradition requests.
  2. Part 1 of the 2003 Act implements extradition arrangements based on the exchange of arrest warrants directly between judicial authorities (before the end of the Transition Period in particular, the European Arrest Warrant (EAW) Framework Decision and the Norway/Iceland Surrender Agreement). Part 2 of the 2003 Act covers other territories that the United Kingdom has extradition relations with, based on the exchange of extradition requests between governments.
  3. The Act provides for aspects of the TCA which provide for streamlined extradition arrangements, akin to the EU’s Surrender Agreement with Norway and Iceland but with appropriate and further safeguards for individuals, beyond those in the European Arrest Warrant. To streamline cooperation, it provides for direct transmission between judicial authorities, limited grounds for refusal and time-limited processes. It also includes additional provisions which make clear that a person’s surrender can be refused if their fundamental rights are at risk, extradition would be disproportionate, or they are likely to face long periods of pre-trial detention. Where extradition of own nationals from certain EU Member States is not possible due to their constitutional principles, the Agreement provides that there is always a mechanism to address this, for example, by obliging EU Member States to refer cases to their own prosecution authorities.

Trade and Other Matters

Technical Barriers to Trade

Information about non-food product safety
  1. As part of the TCA, the UK and the EU agreed a chapter on Technical Barriers to Trade (‘TBT’) and related annexes, including on medicinal products; motor vehicles, equipment and parts; and chemicals, as well as for organic products and wine.
  2. The TBT chapter applies to the preparation, adoption and application of technical regulations, standards, conformity assessment procedures, and market surveillance, while the annexes make provisions for more detailed arrangements in the relevant sectors. The TBT chapter and annexes include, amongst other things, provision relating to international standards and provision for the UK and EU to share information on non-food product safety.
  3. The Act will give effect to the provisions in the TBT chapter and certain annexes to share non-food product safety information by creating two gateways: one for the UK to share this data with the EU, and another to share information received from the EU in the UK. These gateways will enable the UK to implement the agreement to share non-food product safety information as provided in the TBT chapter and relevant annexes.
  4. The information on non-food product safety shared between the UK and EU will complement and enhance the information that UK (and EU) authorities already collect independently. This will help to ensure the safety and compliance of non-food products on the UK market, protecting consumers, health, safety, and the environment across the UK. This is not intended to restrict a Minister’s ability to share similar information under other information sharing powers.
  5. Information shared as part of the arrangements in the TCA may include information that is not publicly available, such as traceability information about businesses in the supply chain. The Act therefore includes provisions that restrict the onward distribution of the information received from the EU and ensures that it is only shared for a permitted purpose. A permitted purpose is where the sharing of the information is to ensure the protection of consumers, health, safety, or the environment.
Use of relevant international standards
  1. The TBT Chapter provisions on international standards in the Agreement include their interaction with product regulation. Product regulation seeks to make sure that goods, and related processes, support public policy objectives including consumer safety, public health, and environmental protection. Voluntary standards can support public policy objectives and are often recognised as best practice for businesses. In some cases, particular voluntary standards can also be one way to meet some or all of the legal requirements in a regulation. For the purposes of the TBT Chapter (and the World Trade Organization (‘WTO’) TBT Agreement), standards are documents approved by bodies recognised for standardisation, which provide rules, guidelines or characteristics for products or related processes, with which compliance is voluntary. International standards are approved by international standardising bodies.
  2. At the end of the Transition Period, most areas of UK product legislation will become retained EU law. The retained EU law will enable the Secretary of State to designate certain standards in respect of Great Britain so that they give rise to the rebuttable presumption of conformity with requirements set in regulations.
  3. Article TBT.4(3) of the TCA requires the UK and EU to use relevant international standards as a basis for their technical regulations, except where these would be ineffective or inappropriate to meet the legitimate objectives pursued. A similar requirement applies in the WTO Agreement on TBT. Article TBT.4(4)-(5) defines relevant international standards for the purposes of the TBT Chapter of the TCA.
  4. The Act will amend retained EU law to enable this commitment to be met, by providing extra clarity that international standards can be used among the standards which the Secretary of State may designate for the presumption of conformity with manufactured goods regulation in Great Britain. The Act will enable UK Ministers to designate an international standard directly where that is in the UK’s interests.

Customs and Tax

Disclosure of information and co-operation with other customs services
  1. Her Majesty’s Revenue and Customs (HMRC) exercises a range of statutory customs functions in respect of both the collection and management of customs duty and the control and administration of imports/exports more generally. To support these functions, HMRC needs to be able to disclose information lawfully to and cooperate with a range of entities, including law enforcement agencies and other customs services for purposes including trade facilitation, ensuring the security of UK borders and combating fraud.
  2. The Customs and Trade Facilitation chapter in the TCA contains provisions on customs cooperation and a Protocol on Mutual Administrative Assistance which together provide a basis in international law for cooperation between customs authorities, reciprocal assistance and the exchange of information between the UK and the EU to uphold their respective customs regimes. The TCA provisions also impose various Treaty-level conditions on the use of any such information received by either Party, including purpose limitations on the use of information and consent for any onwards disclosure.
  3. HMRC’s statutory framework on confidentiality requires a legal basis to be able to lawfully disclose HMRC information held in connection with departmental functions. The sections replace existing provisions contained within sections 25 and 26 of the Taxation (Cross-border Trade) Act 2018, which currently provide such a legal basis for disclosure and cooperation for purposes related to UK Import Duty. This section will create equivalent powers for all matters related to HMRC’s customs functions.
  4. These Sections will provide a suitable legal basis for disclosure and cooperation on the full range of customs matters, including where there is no clear link to UK Import Duty. This covers a number of important areas, including customs safety and security, mutual assistance, and information in respect of Authorised Economic Operators. This will entail a repeal of the relevant sections of the Taxation (Cross-border Trade) Act 2018 and insertion of these new sections into the Customs and Excise Management Act 1979 (‘CEMA’). This approach will maintain current restrictions on use and further disclosure of any information under the section s, by reference to existing penalties under the Commissioners for Revenue and Customs Act 2005.
Powers to make regulation about movement of goods
  1. Alongside matters related to customs duty, customs authorities are responsible for monitoring and controlling the movement of goods across borders for other purposes, including the protection of public health and safety, national security and the protection of the environment, including plant and animal health. Standards in the area of safety and security can be set both domestically and at international level. This is reflected in the objectives of the Customs and Trade Facilitation chapter of the TCA, which commit the parties to cooperate to achieve public policy objectives, and commit the UK and the EU to maintain consistency with international instruments and standards applicable in the area of customs and trade.
  2. Such international obligations can change over time. For example, the World Customs Organization’s SAFE Framework of Standards (‘SAFE Framework’) sets out minimum requirements for regulating, monitoring and securing the international supply chain. This Framework is subject to periodic review which can result in updates to standards.
  3. The Act provides the necessary powers to ensure that HMRC can make any necessary changes to retained EU law in the area of safety and security, to ensure the UK can keep pace with international standards governing the movement of goods and meet TCA commitments.
VAT and Debt Recovery Protocol
  1. The Customs and Trade Facilitation chapter of the TCA contains a Protocol on administrative cooperation and combating fraud in the field of Value Added Tax and on mutual assistance for the recovery of claims relating to taxes and duties. This commits parties to co-operate and share information for the purposes of ensuring trader compliance with VAT legislation. It also commits the UK and EU member state authorities to give assistance to each other in recovering debts relating to taxes and duties, by collecting claims referred from another country as if they were domestic claims. The Act makes provision to implement this Protocol

Transport

  1. The UK and the EU have agreed updated terms for the carriage of goods between their markets by road in the Transport of Goods chapter of the TCA. The TCA ensures continued rights for UK and EU hauliers to travel to, from and through each other’s territories with no quantitative restrictions. It also provides for limited additional internal movements. The international carriage of goods by road for hire or reward within the EU is currently carried out under EU rules on operator licensing, which enables hauliers established in a Member State to carry goods internationally within the EU, providing the haulier has an operator licence. The Act provides for the updated terms agreed between the EU and the UK in the TCA to permit road haulage operators access to each other’s markets after the end of the Transition Period.
  2. Under the terms of the TCA, UK and EU road haulage operators are permitted access to each other’s markets, providing the operator holds the correct licence. A UK haulier permitted to operate in the EU under the TCA will be required to obtain and must carry a UK Licence for the Community in order to carry goods for hire or reward in the EU, a model of which is set out in the TCA to assist enforcement authorities. The Act provisions amend UK legislation so that the model UK Licence for the Community in UK law corresponds to the model licence in the TCA
  3. A UK haulier may carry out international journeys between, through and within the EU and EU hauliers within the UK. The Act amends UK law to reflect the reduced number of international journeys permitted within a set time frame under the TCA. The Act also amends the definition of "international carriage" to permit this type of journey under the Agreement.
  4. The TCA requires the UK and EU Member States to maintain national electronic registers that hold personal data on all commercial drivers that hold driver cards and that these electronic registers to be interconnected and accessible using the TACHOnet messaging system. The TCA provides for the exchange of driver card data between EU Member States and the UK to continue through the TACHOnet messaging system. This exchange of data is necessary so that relevant authorities such as the Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency and Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency in the UK can make the necessary checks when they receive a driver card application and to check the validity of a driver card presented at the roadside, respectively.
  5. The Act provides for relevant authorities to access information through the TACHOnet system when issuing, replacing, exchanging or renewing tachograph cards. This allows authorities to confirm, for example, that an applicant does not already hold a valid tachograph card, or validate driver details when carrying out roadside enforcement.

Social Security

  1. The Act gives effect in domestic law to the Protocol on Social Security Coordination of the TCA, ensuring that individuals can rely on the provisions of the Protocol before domestic courts, tribunals and administrative authorities.
  2. The provisions in the Protocol on Social Security Coordination ensure that individuals who move between the UK and the EU in the future will be able to protect their contributions for state pensions and access a range of social security benefits (including healthcare) in line with those provisions.
  3. The UK and EU Member States will be able to take into account relevant social security contributions paid into each other’s social security systems, or relevant periods of work or residence, by individuals in order to determine those individuals’ entitlement to a state pension and to a range of benefits (for example unemployment and invalidity benefits). The Protocol also provides for the up-rating of the UK State Pension paid to pensioners who retire to the EU after the end of the Transition Period.
  4. The Protocol ensures that cross-border workers and their employers pay social security contributions in only one State.
  5. On healthcare, where the UK or an EU Member State is responsible for the healthcare of an individual, that person will be entitled to reciprocal healthcare cover in accordance with the Protocol. In addition, the Protocol contains necessary healthcare provisions – akin to those provided under the European Health Insurance Card (EHIC) scheme – for people who are travelling (during a "stay") to a State other than their responsible State. The Protocol also enables individuals to seek authorisation to receive planned medical treatment in certain circumstances in the UK or the EU, funded by their responsible State.
  6. The Protocol allows for the Specialised Committee on Social Security Coordination to make amendments to the Protocol’s associated Annexes and Appendices.

Privileges and Immunities for the EU and Euratom and related organisations and bodies

  1. Privileges and Immunities (‘P&Is’) are a standard feature of international law and are generally considered necessary for the proper functioning of international organisations. The UK has agreed, or is in the process of agreeing, to grant P&Is to three specific entities as part of its future relationship with the EU and European Atomic Energy Community (‘Euratom’), and may also be required to grant P&Is to other entities related to the EU or Euratom where an agreement is reached in the future.
  2. The Act amends an existing power under the International Organisations Act 1968 (‘the IOA’) to enable the conferral of P&Is on the EU, Euratom, and related organisations and bodies. This will allow the UK to implement the international obligations that it has in respect of those entities by virtue of agreements to which it (or Her Majesty’s Government) is party. The IOA currently provides only limited powers to confer P&Is on an organisation of which the UK is not a member and certain specified EU bodies only.
  3. As part of TCA negotiations, the UK has reached an agreement with the EU and Euratom to participate in the Euratom Research and Training programme, and as a member of the Fusion for Energy (‘F4E’) which continues UK participation in the ITER project (‘ITER’), subject to the adoption of the EU regulations establishing these programmes and the draft Protocol by the Specialised Committee on Participation in Union Programmes. As a condition of membership of F4E, the UK will need to grant certain P&Is to F4E and ITER. Such P&Is were originally agreed by all Euratom members in 2007 and their application under the TCA maintains UK practice.
  4. The UK is also in discussions with the EU on the long-term P&Is of their Delegation to the UK. The section will enable these P&Is to be granted to the EU Delegation in domestic law in order to implement the Establishment Agreement that is reached with the EU.

Nuclear Cooperation Agreement

  1. The UK and the Euratom have agreed a Nuclear Cooperation Agreement (‘NCA’).
  2. NCAs are commonly used international treaties which give legal underpinning to civil nuclear cooperation and provide key non-proliferation assurances, including in respect of nuclear safeguards, and a framework for nuclear trade. The UK-Euratom NCA achieves this in respect of cooperation between the UK and Euratom. All members of the EU are also members of Euratom, and Euratom officials are part of the European Commission.
  3. The UK-Euratom NCA provides a framework for trade in nuclear materials and technology, facilitates research and development, and enables exchange of information and expertise including on medical radioisotopes. It provides robust mutual assurances that traded nuclear material will remain subject to safeguards and provides a comprehensive framework and other key assurances for transfers of nuclear materials and related items, including procedures for retransfers to third countries.
  4. The UK already has a number of bilateral NCAs with countries such as Japan and India, and has signed new bilateral NCAs with the USA, Canada and Australia which will come into force at the end of the Transition Period. Euratom also has a number of NCAs with other states.
  5. The Act ensures the UK is in a position to fully comply with its obligations under the UK Euratom NCA.

General Implementation

Implementation power
  1. The Act contains a power enabling Ministers, the devolved authorities, and Ministers and the devolved authorities acting jointly, to make regulations necessary to implement the Agreements and matters relating to them. This will ensure that the UK can fully implement its obligations under the Agreements, including any changes to the Agreements in the future, for example where obligations or arrangements, such as decisions of the Partnership Council, need to be implemented domestically. It will also be capable of implementing changes to the agreement that are made as part of the legal revision process under the Agreements, e.g. such as amending cross references to the agreement following their renumbering.
General implementation of agreements
  1. The Act will ensure that the UK is compliant with its international obligations and that such obligations are appropriately implemented. Section 29 provides that existing domestic law has effect with any modifications that are required to implement the TCA and the Security of Classified Information Agreement. This general implementation is subject to more detailed provision which means that, over time, the general implementation will be replaced with detailed provision made under the general implementation power. The general implementation section applies to the version of the agreement when it comes into force which means that domestic law is to be modified in line with that version of the Agreements.
Provisional application
  1. The UK and the EU have agreed to provisionally apply the Agreements pending ratification. To ensure the Agreements have effect in the UK as well as the EU, the Act will enable the UK to bring into force the provisions that implement the Agreements. It also provides a power for the effect of the domestic implementation provisions to be terminated in the event that the Agreements are not ratified by the EU and provisional application comes to an end.
Powers relating to the functioning of the agreements
  1. This section contains a power to make regulations to implement or reflect actions taken at the international level by the UK or the EU in connection with specific governance provisions in the TCA or other relevant agreements. Those provisions of the Agreements enable the parties, in certain specific contexts, to take unilateral or reciprocal actions, that change the balance of rights and obligations in the agreements; changes that would need to be reflected in UK domestic law through this provision.
  2. Changes in the balance of rights and obligations are linked to provisions in the Agreements that allow parties to suspend, cease cooperation under or terminate, in whole or in part, these Agreements. These are, generally, standard provisions for international agreements, and follow prescribed processes aimed at resolving any dispute by mutual agreement, rather than resorting to suspension or termination.
  3. These suspension, cessation of cooperation and termination provisions in the TCA can be engaged: i) as part of the dispute settlement process (which can lead to other temporary remedies but not termination); ii) unilaterally, in certain direct or indirect circumstances set out in the agreement, notably for example INST 36, LAW.GEN.5 and LAW.PRUM.19; or iii) under INST.35 following a serious breach of the ‘essential elements’ noted in COMPROV 12 of the agreement.
  4. The power also allows for the implementation of a resumption of cooperation following suspension. The agreement additionally provides for mutually agreeable solutions to disputes to be agreed between the parties, which might also affect the agreement and need to be implemented domestically - this power would enable that.
  5. The TCA provides that a party can take unilateral safeguard measures under INST.36 in the event of serious societal, economic or environmental difficulties; where this results in an imbalance between the rights and obligations under the agreement, the agreement also contains provision for the other party to take rebalancing measures in response. There are also other targeted remedial, interim and/or rebalancing measures that feature in the Agreements and can be taken in specific circumstances and areas of cooperation.
  6. In order to implement any such changes to the balance of rights and obligations in the Agreements made by the UK, Ministers may need to make regulations under this section to reflect such changes in domestic law. This is to ensure a functioning statute book that reflects UK decisions taken at an international level, and maintains legal certainty for businesses and citizens.
  7. The Act will, therefore, include provisions to enable the Government to amend primary and secondary legislation, including the Act itself, as a consequence of decisions made by HMG at an international level, as described above.
PEACE PLUS programme
  1. The EU’s PEACE PLUS programme builds upon previous PEACE and INTERREG programmes and continues their focus on contributing to a more prosperous and stable society in Northern Ireland and the border region of Ireland.
  2. In January 2019, the UK Government committed to support the PEACE PLUS programme until at least 2027. This commitment does not, however, form part of any "future relationship agreement" (as defined in section 37(1)).
  3. It is therefore not covered by the general financial authority provided in section 35. A separate financial authority is accordingly required, and provided by this section, to allow the UK government to fulfil this financial commitment.
  4. This provision does not affect the powers or ability of the Northern Ireland Executive to pay its contribution, nor the role of the Special EU Programmes Body in delivering the programme.
General financial provision
  1. The Act authorises expenditure incurred by virtue of any "future relationship agreement" (as defined in section 37(1)), for example expenditure resulting from the UK’s future participation in EU programmes. It also authorises expenditure in anticipation of the exercise of powers to make subordinate legislation conferred or modified by or under the Act.

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