Thank you to the many constituents who have recently got in touch with me regarding the Internal Market Bill.
At the end of the Brexit transition period, the UK
will leave the EU single market. The EU legal underpinnings for free trade in
goods and services between the four nations will fall away. To prevent new
barriers to intra-UK trade from emerging the Government has proposed a new
legal framework: the United Kingdom Internal Market Bill.
The aims of the Bill are to provide continuity for
businesses and citizens and improve competitiveness and business environment
across the UK. The Bill will contribute to general welfare and prosperity in
all nations of the UK. A UK internal market will help the UK in reaching
international trade agreements and allow the benefits of those agreements to
extend to all parts of the UK.
The provisions of the Bill set out general principles
for market access and support, affecting trade in goods and services. The UK
internal market principles would apply all to nations of the UK equally.
There are several principles within the Bill. I will
cover a couple of them.
The first principle means that if a good or service
can be legally sold in one part of the UK, then it can be sold in any part of
the UK. This is the principle of mutual recognition.
The second principle prevents parts of the UK treating
goods coming in from other parts of the UK less favourably than local goods.
This is the principle of non-discrimination.
Other principles include the introduction of a unified
system for the recognition of professional qualifications across the UK for
professions that are regulated by law, the establishment of an independent
Office for the Internal Market and a proposal that Restricts UK authorities
from using their powers after the transition period in a way that might result
in the introduction of checks, controls or administrative processes for goods
moving from Northern Ireland to Great Britain.
Importantly for areas of the UK like Cornwall that
have previously been in receipt of EU funding, the Bill also creates a new
power allowing ministers to provide financial assistance for a wide range of
different purposes. This power is intended to be used to replace the funding
that the EU currently distributes within the UK. The Bill also contains
provisions on government financial assistance and clauses that in effect give
the UK Parliament the exclusive right to legislate on how subsidy controls will
work in the future.
The Internal Markets Bill is one that will provide the
foundation for our internal economy as we move beyond Brexit, and allow the
Government to replace EU funding with monies that are better targeted and
easier to access than what we have received in the past. It is one that I fully
support and I look forward to seeing it pass through Parliament and become law.
To put it in to perspective, last week saw Back
British Farming Day, the national day to celebrate our support for British
Farmers. I took the opportunity to meet with leading Cornish food producer
Riviera Produce, who supply to some of the UK’s major supermarkets. One
interesting fact I learned from my visit is that currently Cornish cauliflowers
reach 95% of British supermarkets, a really positive example of how our supply
chains currently work. This is just one element of our current arrangements
that would be disrupted if the EU get their way in the current Brexit
negotiations. This why the Government is bringing forward the United Kingdom
Internal Market Bill.
Q: Will this end the trade negotiations with the EU? There is no reason why this safety net should
undermine the UK’s relationship with our European friends and partners. We are
taking the steps that we are in order to ensure that nothing inadvertently
compromises our shared commitment to upholding the Belfast (Good Friday)
Agreement, and to ensuring that the original intention of the Northern Ireland
Protocol is properly implemented. We are confident that that is the EU’s view
as well.
Q: Are you deliberately breaking international law? We still want to reach an agreement with the EU that
means we don’t need to use this insurance policy. But it is the responsible
thing to do so that we can preserve peace in NI and the integrity of the UK. In
the event we are not able to reach a deal with the EU, we will have to disapply
elements of EU law if they prevent us from either upholding peace in NI or
recovering from the economic shock of coronavirus.
Q: Why did you sign up to an agreement with the EU
that you knew you were going to break?
We signed up to the Northern Ireland Protocol in the belief that the important
areas left to the Joint Committee would be resolved satisfactorily in 2020.
That may yet happen. But, unfortunately, while both the UK and EU negotiating
teams have worked at pace, we have now reached the point where - because we
haven’t yet reached a final deal on some of these tricky issues - we have to
consider sensible fall back options to ensure the communities of Northern Ireland
are protected if agreement isn’t in place by the end of the transition period.
We will, of course continue to work with the EU in the Joint Committee to
resolve these issues, however – as a responsible Government – we cannot allow
the peace process or other essential parts of Government business to
inadvertently be compromised by unintended consequences of the protocol.
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