Uncategorised

Clause 37 Withdrawal Agreement

Three clauses and an entire timetable have been removed. Five clauses were added and several clauses were amended. Clauses that give Parliament a say in future Brexit agreements, negotiating targets or the extension deadline have been removed. In concrete terms, the previous version of the WAB was presented to Parliament in October 2019. It did not contain any clause similar to section 37. The library published an initial analysis of the differences between the October WAB and the current bill, which was submitted to Parliament. Clause 31, which must provide for Parliament`s approval of negotiations on future relations in the October act, has disappeared. Under the old bill, the House of Commons should have approved the government`s negotiating objectives in the next phase of the talks. The parliamentary approval process for future relations agreements, which will be negotiated with the EU at a later date, has also disappeared.

This is the second version of the Withdrawal Treaty Act, first published in October. During the reporting phase, the Lords voted in favour of Lord Dubs` Amendment 18 by 300 votes to 220. This would remove clause 37 from the bill and the requirements of Article 17 of the EU`s 2018 Family Reunification Withdrawal Act will come into force. Legal protection for refugee children who are reunited with family members in the UK has been watered down. The bill removes, by Article 37, the obligations relating to unaccompanied children seeking asylum in the EU, with the obligation to make a declaration within two months of the adoption of the law. They urge the government to avoid loopholes in family reunification provisions, for example by reconciling UK immigration rules with Dublin III rules and negotiating a replacement agreement with the EU. The powers and rules of the withdrawal agreement to guarantee the rights of EU citizens will be implemented. The promise that the government`s position in the negotiations on future relations will be consistent with the political declaration attached to the withdrawal agreement. “Under Article 17 of the European Union (Withdrawal) Act 2018, the government is obliged to negotiate a mutual agreement with the EU allowing unaccompanied asylum-seeking children in the EU to join parents, siblings, aunts, uncles and grandparents – who have legally applied for asylum in the UK or are waiting to have a decision on their asylum application , where they are in the best interests of the child. and vice versa.

This obligation applies whether we leave the EU with or without an agreement. A clause to extend the transitional Period of Brexit beyond 31 December is included.