To ask Her Majesty's Government, further to the Explainer for the agreement on the withdrawal of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland from the European Union, published on 14 November, on what basis it was determined that (1) Crown Dependencies will be required to pass their own legislation to ensure that the withdrawal agreement is fully implemented, and (2) such legislation will not be required from the devolved legislatures of Wales and Scotland.
Answered on
13 December 2018
It is long-standing constitutional convention that Acts of Parliament do not extend to the Crown Dependencies automatically, as they are not part of the United Kingdom but are self-governing jurisdictions with their own democratically-elected legislative assemblies. They are not represented in this Parliament. Therefore, although the United Kingdom Government is responsible for the Crown Dependencies’ international relations, each of the Crown Dependencies is responsible for passing its own Exit legislation. This includes legislation which may be required to implement the Withdrawal Agreement in their jurisdictions. As the Prime Minister has made clear, the longstanding constitutional relationships between the UK and the Crown Dependencies will not change as a result of the UK’s decision to leave the EU.
For the UK, the EU (Withdrawal Agreement) Bill will implement our international commitments - set out in the Withdrawal Agreement - into UK law. We will seek the consent of the devolved legislatures where provisions of the Bill engage the conventions and practices under which the UK Government will normally seek legislative consent.