Call for Evidence

The International Agreements Committee is conducting a short inquiry into the One Hundred Year Partnership Agreement between the UK and Ukraine.

This call for evidence is intended to seek expert input to inform our assessment of the Agreement. The Committee will consider the Partnership Agreement, and accompanying Political Declaration. We intend to publish our report within the Parliamentary scrutiny period of 21 sitting days as set out in the Constitutional Reform and Governance Act 2010 (CRaG Act).

This is a public call for written evidence to be submitted to the Committee. The deadline is 10 March 2025. You can follow the Committee’s activity on Twitter @hlintagreements.

All are welcome to respond to the Call for Evidence and there are no barriers to making a submission. Respondents are not obliged to respond to every question listed, and so may confine their response to their particular areas of interest or expertise as they find appropriate.

Diversity comes in many forms and hearing a range of different perspectives means that committees are better informed and can more effectively scrutinise public policy and legislation. Committees can undertake their role most effectively when they hear from a wide range of individuals, sectors or groups in society affected by a particular policy or piece of legislation. We encourage anyone with experience or expertise of an issue under investigation by a select committee to share their views with the committee, with the full knowledge that their views have value and are welcome.

Questions

The Committee is happy to receive submissions on any issues related to the subject of the inquiry but would particularly welcome submissions on the questions listed below.

You do not need to address every question.

Instructions on how to submit evidence are set out at the end of this document.

1. How does this Agreement contribute to the UK’s national interest? Are there any risks to the UK?
2. What will materially change as a result of this treaty?
3. The Partnership comprises both a short, legally binding treaty, and a more detailed non-binding political declaration. What do you see as the role of these respective instruments, and the benefits and/or drawbacks of including greater detail in the political declaration?
4. The Partnership reaffirms the UK’s support for Ukrainian membership of NATO. How likely is this aspiration in the current climate, and what more could the Government do to ensure this outcome?
5. The Agreement contains a commitment to establish a maritime partnership with Ukraine, with the aim of strengthening security in the Baltic Sea, Black Sea and Azov Sea. How do you expect this partnership to operate in practice, and what are the benefits and risks to the UK?
6. How does this Agreement relate to the wider issues of security guarantees for Ukraine in relation to any cease fire arrangements between Russia and Ukraine or any settlement between those two parties?
7. To what extent will this Agreement act as an effective deterrent to any further Russian aggression against Ukraine
8. Are there any other aspects of this treaty or political declaration that you consider notable or could have significant policy implications?

ANNEX: guidance for submissions

Submitting written evidence

Written submissions may be submitted online, as a Word document, using the written submission form available at https://committees.parliament.uk/submission/#/evidence/3606/preamble This page also provides guidance on submitting evidence. All submissions made through the written submission form should receive an on-screen confirmation once the evidence has been submitted.

Getting in touch

If you have difficulty making a written submission on the online portal, please contact the Committee staff at hlintlagreements@parliament.uk. If you do not have access to a computer, mobile phone or internet, you may telephone the Committee at 0207 219 4840 or submit a paper copy of your evidence to: Clerk to the International Agreements Committee, Committee Office, House of Lords, London SW1A 0PW.

Guidelines for written evidence

Short, concise submissions are preferred, and submissions longer than 6 pages should include a one-page summary. Please ensure the submission is free of logos and signatures. Paragraphs should be numbered, and submissions should be dated.

Submissions should make a note of the author’s name, and of whether the author is acting in an individual or corporate capacity. Submissions with a university or college address should make clear whether they are submitted in an individual capacity or on behalf of the university or college.

You should be careful not to comment on individual cases currently before a court of law or matters in respect of which court proceedings are imminent. If you anticipate such issues arising, you should discuss with the Clerk to the Committee how this might affect your submission.

The Committee cannot accept anything that has not been prepared specifically in response to this call for evidence, or that has been published elsewhere.

Accepting evidence

Submissions become the property of the Committee, which will decide whether to accept them as evidence. Once you have received acknowledgement via email that your submission has been accepted as evidence, you may publicise or publish it yourself, but in doing so you must indicate that it was prepared for the Committee. If you publish your evidence separately, you should be aware that you will be legally responsible for its content.

Publication

Evidence that is accepted by the Committee may be published online at any stage; when it is published it becomes subject to parliamentary copyright and is protected by parliamentary privilege. It will normally appear on the Committee’s website and will be deposited in the Parliamentary Archives.

Personal contact details will be removed from evidence before publication but will be retained by the Committee Office and used for specific purposes relating to the Committee’s work, for instance to seek additional information.

In certain circumstances the Committee may be prepared to accept submissions but not to publish them, in whole or in part. If you would like to submit evidence on this basis you should first discuss this with the Clerk to the Committee.

Oral evidence

Persons who submit written evidence, and others, may be invited to give oral evidence. Oral evidence is usually given in public and broadcast online; transcripts are produced and published online. Persons invited to give oral evidence will be notified separately of the procedure to be followed and the topics likely to be discussed.

Further details

Substantive communications to the Committee about the inquiry should be addressed through the Clerk, whether or not they are intended to constitute formal evidence to the Committee.

You may follow the progress of the inquiry at https://committees.parliament.uk/work/8955/ukraine-100-year-partnership-agreement/