Interparliamentary Forum on Brexit holds seventh meeting
29 April 2019
Background
The House of Lords European Union Committee, in its report on Brexit: devolution, recommended that the structures for interparliamentary dialogue within the United Kingdom should be strengthened, to support more effective scrutiny of the Government's handling of Brexit. This led to the formation of the Interparliamentary Forum on Brexit, comprising the Chairs and Convenors of Committees scrutinising Brexit-related issues in the House of Commons, House of Lords, Scottish Parliament, National Assembly for Wales and, as and when the power-sharing institutions are restored, the Northern Ireland Assembly. The Forum held its first meeting in October 2017.
This seventh meeting was hosted by the Scottish Parliament and chaired by Bruce Crawford MSP, Convener, Finance and Constitutional Committee, Scottish Parliament. The European Union Committee was represented by the Earl of Kinnoull.
Statement
The attendees agreed the following statement:
Notwithstanding our differing political positions on Brexit, our respective Committees remain committed to working collaboratively to ensure effective scrutiny of the impact of Brexit across the UK. That is demonstrated by our shared and agreed recommendations to the Minister for the Cabinet Office on ensuring that a role for the UK and Devolved Parliaments in scrutinising intergovernmental relations is recognised by the JMC review currently underway.
We had a productive discussion with Michael Russell MSP, Cabinet Secretary for Government Business and Constitutional Relations regarding the progress of the negotiations including the development of common frameworks and the role of devolved administrations in future international agreements. We have confirmed to the Minister for the Constitution our shared view that each Parliament and Assembly should have sufficient time to consider and approve Common Frameworks – be they legislative or non-legislative.
There remains much uncertainty about how the Brexit process will develop over the coming months. We therefore propose to meet again in June to review progress.
The next meeting of the Forum will be held at the House of Commons in June 2019.