Committee hears evidence on the role of the CJEU under the Protocol

• Watch live: Parliament TV
• Inquiry: The role of the CJEU in relation to the Protocol on Ireland/Northern Ireland
• Sub-Committee on the Protocol on Ireland/Northern Ireland

Background

This evidence session forms part of the Committee’s short inquiry into the role of the CJEU in relation to the Protocol. The Committee will examine the Government’s proposals for new institutional and dispute resolution arrangements underpinning the Protocol, as set out in its July 2021 Command Paper on Northern Ireland Protocol: the way forward, and the EU’s response.

Witnesses

Thursday 20 January at 10:30am

• Professor Catherine Barnard, Professor of European and Employment Law, University of Cambridge
• Martin Howe QC, 8 New Square/ Lawyers for Britain
• Anton Spisak, Policy Lead for Trade and Productivity, Tony Blair Institute

Possible questions

• Can you explain the CJEU’s role in relation to the Protocol?
• What is your assessment of the Government’s concerns over the role of the CJEU? Are they legitimate grounds for invoking Article 16?
• Has there been any evolution in the Government’s position since the publication of its July 2021 Command Paper?
• What is the EU’s current position on this matter? Do you see any scope for compromise between the two sides’ positions?
• Is it feasible for the arbitration mechanism under the Withdrawal Agreement to be extended to the Protocol? What other mechanisms for addressing the issue would you advocate?
• How significant is the risk of ‘reach-back’ of EU law, and the CJEU’s application of it, into UK State aid policy?

Further information

• About Parliament: Select committees
• Visiting Parliament: Watch committees