Parliamentary Committees and Public Enquiries
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European Union Committee draws special attention to trade agreements with Israel and Switzerland

The European Union Committee has published its seventh report on Brexit-related international agreements.

Background

This report considers four international agreements, two of which have been drawn to the special attention of the House on the grounds that they are politically important and give rise to issues of public policy that the House might wish to debate prior to ratification:

  • Trade and Partnership Agreement between the Government of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland and the Government of the State of Israel (CP 59, 2019)
  • Agreement between the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland and the Swiss Confederation on Citizens' Rights following the Withdrawal of the United Kingdom from the European Union and the Free Movement of Persons Agreement (CP 64, 2019)

In addition the Committee concluded that in relation to the agreement with Israel, further consultation would be appropriate, including with the devolved administrations.

The Committee also reports one agreement for information:

  • Additional Agreement between the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, the Swiss Confederation and the Principality of Liechtenstein extending to the Principality of Liechtenstein certain provisions of the Trade Agreement between the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland and the Swiss Confederation (CP 65, 2019)

The fourth agreement is the UK-Palestine agreement, which is not a treaty for the purposes of the Constitutional Reform and Governance Act 2010, because Palestine is not recognised as a state by the UK. The Committee has therefore reported this agreement for information only

  • Interim Political, Trade and Partnership Agreement between the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, of the one part, and the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) for the benefit of the Palestinian Authority of the West Bank and the Gaza Strip, of the other part (CP 61, 2019)

The Committee also received a letter from Baroness Fairhead with further information on issues relating to scrutiny of treaties.

A short expolainer on the Lords EU Committee scrutiny of treaties is available on our website:

Channel website: http://www.parliament.uk/

Original article link: https://www.parliament.uk/business/committees/committees-a-z/lords-select/eu-select-committee-/news-parliament-2017/seventh-international-agreements-report/

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