Lords EU Committee launch follow-up inquiry on Brexit and UK/Ireland relations
The House of Lords EU Committee has opened a follow-up to its seminal 2016 Brexit: UK-Irish Relations inquiry.
The Committee will take evidence in the coming weeks on developments in the area since its initial report, including the implications of the December 2017 agreement between the UK and the EU on progress in stage one of the negotiations, and the extent to which this provides a platform to satisfy the concerns and priorities in London, Dublin, Belfast and Brussels, including the avoidance of a hard border on the island of Ireland, and ensuring that the relationship between Northern Ireland and the rest of the UK is not weakened in any way.
The Committee will open its inquiry with evidence from business leaders and political experts on Tuesday 16 January in Committee Room 3 of the House of Lords. Giving evidence to the Committee will be:
3:05pm
- Dr Graham Gudgin, Chief Economic Advisor, Policy Exchange and previously special advisor to the Frist Minister of Norther Ireland, 1998-2002
- Professor John Garry, Professor of Political Behaviour, Queen's University Belfast
4:05pm
- Dame Fiona Kendrick, Chairman, Nestlé UK and Ireland
- Mr Leigh Pomlett, Executive Director, CEVA Group and Freight Transport Association President
- Mr James Hookham, Deputy Chief Executive, Freight Transport Association
In the first session the Committee will question the witnesses on the political mood in Northern Ireland in relation to Brexit, the December agreement on stage one of the negotiations, what issues relevant to Northern Ireland remain to be resolved, and whether December's Joint Report gives the necessary assurances to the Unionist community in Northern Ireland that the links between Northern Ireland and the rest of the UK will not be undermined.
In the second session the Committee will explore the nature of cross border trade on the island of Ireland and between Britain and Ireland, and whether there are ways to mitigate any negative impact on businesses of the UK leaving the Single Market and Customs Union . The Committee will ask how feasible the UK Government's proposals of ‘technology based solutions' to streamline customs processes at the border are likely to be.
