Rt Hon Penny Mordaunt MP Paymaster General Cabinet Office 70 Whitehall London SW1A 2AS

Sir William Cash MP Our reference: MC2020/02085 Chair, European Scrutiny Committee House of Commons London, SW1A 0AA

1 April 2020

Dear Sir William Cash,

The EU’s mandate for negotiating a new partnership with the United Kingdom (Council document 5721 + ADD 1) (41058)

Thank you for your letter of 18 March with regards to the Government’s Explanatory Memorandum that accompanied the above named Council document.

The Government remains fully committed to supporting the scrutiny process during the transition period as set out in the letter to you of 25 March 2020 from the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster.

But let me respond to the very specific comments with regards to the Explanatory Memorandum deposited on 16 March, in particular the concern you express that the document did not make “an assessment of the main legal, policy and financial implications for the United Kingdom” of the EU’s mandate.

As was clear in the Government’s Explanatory Memorandum the only practical impact of this document was to allow negotiations to begin. The mandate itself merely reflects the starting position of the EU in our negotiations on the terms of our future relationship.

To provide the assessment your letter suggests you expect would require the Government to publish an assessment of the impact of the EU’s starting position for negotiations being accepted in its entirety. Given that this is not a position the UK Government would accept this would surely be of no benefit as that impact would never come to pass, but in making such a broad ranging assessment and putting it in the public domain would severely undermine the UK’s negotiating position and would go beyond any assessment the EU produces.

I note under the previous administration you corresponded with the then Secretary of State, the Rt Hon David Davis MP, when the Council decision authorising the Commission to negotiate with the United Kingdom and subsequent negotiating papers were not deposited with your Committee for scrutiny. He responded on 11 December 2017 “these papers were not addressed to the United Kingdom and we were not party to the discussions on the negotiating mandate”.

This position remained through the Article 50 period, and I do not think it undermined the capacity of your Committee to provide detailed scrutiny throughout that period, which was of huge value to Parliament, as I know your report on this matter will be when published in due course.

Going forward, I am keen to fully understand what your Committee needs to exercise its duties properly. I have asked my officials to discuss this with your clerks.

I am copying this letter to the Earl of Kinnoull, Chair of the EU Select Committee in the House of Lords and Christopher Johnson, Clerk of the Lords EU Select Committee.

Rt Hon Penny Mordaunt MP