Foreign Secretary invited to respond to expert evidence on role of CJEU under the Protocol
11 February 2022
The House of Lords Sub-Committee on the Protocol on Ireland/Northern Ireland has written to the Foreign Secretary setting out its analysis of the role of the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) in relation to the Protocol. It takes account of oral and written evidence received from a range of legal and political experts, and summarises the role of the CJEU in relation to the Protocol, and its likely approach in relevant cases.
- Letter to the Foreign Secretary on role of CJEU under the Protocol, dated 11 February 2022
- Transcript of oral evidence session on role of CJEU in relation to the Protocol on Ireland/Northern Ireland, 20 January 2022
- Written evidence from Dr Sylvia de Mars, dated 20 January 2022
- Sub-Committee on the Protocol on Ireland/Northern Ireland
The letter
In its letter, the Committee:
- Asks whether concerns about the jurisdiction of the CJEU can be resolved without first addressing the fundamental issue of the direct application of significant areas of EU law to Northern Ireland under the Protocol
- Invites the Foreign Secretary to respond to expert evidence that concerns around the CJEU’s jurisdiction would not be appropriate grounds to invoke Article 16
- Asks whether extension of the dispute settlement provisions in Part 6 of the Withdrawal Agreement to the Protocol provides the only viable compromise between the UK and EU positions, and whether the Foreign Secretary’s recent public pronouncements indicate support for such a model.
- Questions whether and how the Northern Ireland Executive can play an explicit role in dialogue to resolve disputes in relation to the Protocol
- Asks whether the removal of Article 10 of the Protocol would alleviate the Government’s concerns over the jurisdiction of the CJEU over UK State aid decisions.
The Committee invites the Foreign Secretary to respond to its letter by 4 March 2022.