Written evidence submitted by the Department for Exiting the European Union (BSP0001)

Thank you for your letter of 15 June relating to EU Exit Negotiations: Policing and Security Cooperation. I have been liaising with the Rt Hon Nick Hurd MP, Minister of State for Policing and the Fire Service at the Home Office, who will be responding to the detailed questions set out in your letter directly.

In the first instance, I want to assure you that Government has made significant progress in our negotiations with the EU so far, including in relation to security. We have agreed the terms of a time limited Implementation Period, and have agreed a large proportion of the text in the Withdrawal Agreement. I attach to this letter a copy of a recent statement on progress published on 19 June in the lead up to the June European Council. With talks ongoing, we remain firmly on track to reach agreement on the Withdrawal Agreement and Future Framework by October.

We are clear on what we are seeking to achieve with the EU on security. As the Prime Minister set out in her speech at the Munich Security Conference in March, and as I set out earlier this month at the Royal United Services Institute, the UK is unconditionally committed to European security; we want to work closely with our European partners to keep citizens safe regardless of where they are on the continent.

We are seeking a new partnership with the EU which builds on the breadth and depth of our interest and shared values, going beyond any existing third country agreement. Key to this is maintaining essential operational cooperation with the EU on law enforcement and criminal justice tools and measures - delivered through a new UK-EU Treaty on security, law enforcement and criminal justice. 

We are working closely with our partners across government as well as key operational partners to ensure that we are in the strongest possible position to continue our negotiations with the EU and agree a deal that will keep all our citizens safe when we exit the EU in March 2019. 

I am copying this letter to the Rt Hon Nick Hurd MP, Minister of State for Policing and the Fire Service who has responsibility for this area at the Home Office. 

RT HON DAVID DAVIS MP

SECRETARY OF STATE FOR EXITING THE EUROPEAN UNION