Brexit Bulletin—government responds to report on scrutiny of EU legislative proposals within scope of NI Protocol

Article summary

The government has responded to the European Affairs Committee (EAC) report on scrutiny of EU legislative proposals within the scope of the Northern Ireland Protocol to the Withdrawal Agreement. The government has welcomed the scrutiny work of the Sub-Committee, and the work relevant to the NI Protocol of other parliamentary committees, while expressing that it ‘understands’ that EU document scrutiny remains a ‘key priority’. With regards to scrutiny by the Northern Ireland Assembly’s Committees, the government has stated that it will continue to share Explanatory Memoranda (EMs) with Northern Ireland Executive officials and will continue to involve Executive officials in the preparation of EMs. The government has also provided detailed responses to the EAC’s eight recommendations. In terms of the Sub-Committee’s assessment that the NI Protocol has created a ‘democratic deficit’ that needs to be addressed, the government has agreed with this. The government has also agreed...