Cabinet Secretary for Constitution, Europe and External Affairs Michael Russell MSP 

T: 0300 244 4000 E: [email protected]

Ms Joan McAlpine MSP Convener Culture, Tourism, Europe and External Affairs Committee Scottish Parliament Edinburgh EH99 1SP

10th September 2020

Dear Joan,

I wrote to you and to the Convener of the Culture, Tourism, Europe and External Affairs Committee on 28 August 2020 to alert your committees to the twenty fifth meeting of the Joint Ministerial Committee on EU Negotiations [JMC (EN)] on 03 September 2020. I am now writing to report on the Scottish Government’s actions at that meeting.

The other Ministers attending were:

 From the UK Government: The Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster, Rt Hon Michael Gove MP; The Secretary of State for Scotland, Rt Hon Alister Jack MP; The Secretary of State for Wales, Rt Hon Simon Hart MP; The Secretary of State for , Rt Hon Brandon Lewis MP; The Paymaster General, Rt Hon Penny Mordaunt MP; The Minister for the Constitution and Devolution, Chloe Smith MP and Sherpa, Prime Minister's Europe Adviser and Chief Negotiator of Task Force Europe, David Frost.

 From the Scottish Government: The Cabinet Secretary for the Constitution, Europe and External Affairs, Michael Russell MSP and The Minister for Europe and International Development, Jenny Gilruth MSP.

 From the Welsh Government: The Counsel General and Minister for European Transition, Jeremy Miles MS.

 From the Northern Ireland Executive: First Minister, Rt Hon MLA, deputy First Minister, Michelle O’Neill MLA, Junior Minister MLA and Junior Minister MLA.

I pushed for information on: the likelihood of a deal; whether there is any flexibility in the timetable for agreement; for clarification on whether the state aid blockage is rooted in policy or principled objections; and for updates on rules of origin, services and programmes. The dynamics of negotiations were also raised.

There was nothing new heard in response to the areas I raised, bar perhaps confirmation that development of a UK state aid regime should be at the pace of the UK political system, not set by the negotiations. Some progress was noted in the areas of services and programmes. On the latter there was discussion about keeping DAs updated on negotiations ‘as quickly as possible’

CDL updated on the Joint Committee, and I pressed for improved and more urgent involvement. There will likely be a recorded action for officials to meet as quickly as possible.

I pushed for more ministerial and official engagement and for better joining-up of communications. CDL responded that there will be an intensification of contact at every level, but we remain to see much of the necessary detail.

I pressed for immediate sight of the draft internal market bill, which was sidestepped.

Yours sincerely,

MICHAEL RUSSELL

JOINT MINISTERIAL COMMITTEE (EU NEGOTIATIONS) COMMUNIQUE

3 SEPTEMBER 2020

The twenty-fifth Joint Ministerial Committee (EU Negotiations) met on 3 September 2020 via video conference. The meeting was chaired by the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster.

The attending Ministers were:

From the UK Government: The Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster, Rt Hon Michael Gove MP; The Secretary of State for Scotland, Rt Hon Alister Jack MP; The Secretary of State for Wales, Rt Hon Simon Hart MP; The Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, Rt Hon Brandon Lewis MP; The Paymaster General, Rt Hon Penny Mordaunt MP; The Minister for the Constitution and Devolution, Chloe Smith MP and Sherpa, Prime Minister's Europe Adviser and Chief Negotiator of Task Force Europe, David Frost.

From the Scottish Government: The Cabinet Secretary for the Constitution, Europe and External Affairs, Michael Russell MSP and The Minister for Europe and International Development, Jenny Gilruth MSP.

From the Welsh Government: The Counsel General and Minister for European Transition, Jeremy Miles MS.

From the Northern Ireland Executive: First Minister, Rt Hon Arlene Foster MLA, deputy First Minister, Michelle O’Neill MLA, Junior Minister Gordon Lyons MLA and Junior Minister Declan Kearney MLA.

The Committee discussed progress on negotiations with the EU, an update on transition readiness, the implementation of the Northern Ireland Protocol, including the legislative timetable, progress with work on the UK Common Frameworks Programme and interactions with the UK Internal Market.