NI Secretary of State Brandon Lewis MP
A new Bill to protect jobs and trade across Northern Ireland and all four nations of the United Kingdom after the Transition Period ends will be introduced to parliament tomorrow (Wednesday 9 September).
The UK Internal Market Bill will guarantee companies can trade unhindered in every part of the UK as they have done for centuries, ensuring the continued prosperity of people and business across all four nations, while maintaining our world-leading high standards for consumers, workers, food, animal welfare and the environment.
The Bill will also give new spending powers to the UK Government, taking powers that are currently held by unelected EU bodies until the end of the Transition Period. This will allow the UK to invest in communities and businesses nationwide as we recover from coronavirus. This power will cover infrastructure, economic development, culture, sport and will support educational, training and exchange opportunities both within the UK and internationally – much of which were previously done at an EU level.
The Bill will also set out limited and reasonable steps to ensure that the government is always able to deliver on its commitments to the people of Northern Ireland. The UK Government remains fully committed to implementing the Withdrawal Agreement and Northern Ireland Protocol.
However, at all stages we must, as a responsible Government, ensure that we have the ability to uphold our commitments to the people of Northern Ireland, preserve the huge gains of the peace process and protect Northern Ireland’s place in our United Kingdom – as set out in the Command Paper published in May.
Specifically, these provisions within the UKIM Bill will ensure that businesses based in Northern Ireland have true ‘unfettered access’ to the rest of the United Kingdom, without paperwork and ensure that there is no legal confusion about the fact that, while Northern Ireland will remain subject to the EU’s State Aid regime for the duration of the Protocol, GB will not be subject to EU rules in this area.
From 1 January 2021, powers in at least 70 policy areas previously exercised at an EU level will flow directly to the devolved administrations in Holyrood, Cardiff Bay and Stormont for the first time. This will give the devolved legislatures power over more issues than they have ever had before, including over air quality, energy efficiency of buildings and elements of employment law, without removing any of their current powers. In respecting the devolution settlements, every devolved power held at an EU level will be returned to the devolved legislatures.
Once the Transition Period ends, rules that have regulated how each home nation trades with each other over the past 45 years will fall away. Without urgent legislation to preserve the status quo of seamless internal trade, inconsistent standards, rules and regulations set in Scotland, England, Wales and Northern Ireland could create new barriers to trade between nations, unnecessary red tape for business and additional costs for consumers. Data shows that the combined total sales from Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland to the rest of the United Kingdom were worth over £90 billion in 2018.
Today’s Bill will avoid this uncertainty for business by creating an open, fair and competitive market across the United Kingdom, ensuring regulations from one part of the country will be recognised in another. Each devolved administration will still be able to set their own standards as they do now, while also being able to benefit from the trade of businesses based anywhere in the UK.
More than 270 businesses, charities, academics and industry groups responded to a public consultation on the proposals, launched in July. Responses showed overwhelming support from businesses for the measures to avoid additional costs to doing business between different parts of the UK and providing vital certainty for firms from January 2021.
The UK Government has also laid out plans to establish an independent monitoring body, the Office for the Internal Market (OIM), to support the smooth running of trade between different parts of the United Kingdom. The body will sit within the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) and provide independent, technical advice to the devolved administrations on regulation that may damage the UK’s internal market. Any disagreements will be referred to respective legislatures for parliamentary debate, with the courts being the ultimate arbiter if required.
The Rt Hon Brandon Lewis MP, Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, said:
“This pivotal legislation will protect jobs and livelihoods across Northern Ireland, ensuring the smooth operating of the UK internal market.
“The Bill will guarantee we uphold our manifesto commitments to the people and businesses of Northern Ireland that they will continue to have unfettered access to the whole of the rest of the UK market after the end of the Transition Period.
“As a responsible Government it is also necessary for us to ensure there is a safety net in place which provides legal certainty that we can deliver on the commitments made to the people of Northern Ireland, protect the huge gains of the peace process and guarantee the free flow of trade across the entire United Kingdom.”
BEIS Secretary Alok Sharma MP
Business Secretary Alok Sharma said:
“The UK’s internal market is the cornerstone of our shared prosperity and delivers unparalleled economic growth across Northern Ireland and the Union.
“Today’s Bill will protect our highly integrated market by guaranteeing that companies can continue to trade unhindered in every part of the UK after the Transition Period ends and EU law falls away.
“By providing clarity over rules that will govern the UK economy after we take back control of our money and laws, we can increase investment and create new jobs in Northern Ireland and across the United Kingdom, while our maintaining world-leading standards for consumers, workers, food and the environment.
“Without these necessary reforms, the way we trade goods and services between the home nations could be seriously impacted, harming the way we do business within our own borders. Now is not the time to create uncertainty for business with new barriers and additional costs that would trash our chances of an economic recovery.”
Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster Michael Gove MP
Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster, the Rt Hon Michael Gove, said:
“The devolved administrations of the UK will enjoy a power surge when the Transition Period ends in December. Holyrood, Stormont and Cardiff Bay will soon have more powers than ever before and there will be no change to the powers the devolved administrations already have.
“This Bill will also give the UK Government new spending powers to drive our economic recovery from COVID-19 and support businesses and communities right across the UK.
“No longer will unelected EU bodies be spending our money on our behalf. These new spending powers will mean that these decisions will now be made in the UK, focus on UK priorities and be accountable to the UK Parliament and people of the UK.”
Without this action to preserve the status quo of seamless domestic trade, businesses across the UK could face serious problems: a Welsh lamb producer could end up unable to sell their lamb in Scotland, or Scotch whisky producers could lose access to supply from English barley farmers. These proposals create certainty for businesses that might otherwise face a complex and increasingly fragmented regulatory environment.
The UK’s existing high standards across areas including environmental standards, workers’ rights, animal welfare and food standards will underpin the functioning of the Internal Market to protect consumers and workers across the economy. The UK Government is committed to maintaining high standards in these areas, including in all free trade agreement negotiations.
Source: Northern Ireland Office