Key Facts

• The Chair of the Committee will remain in the Speaker’s Chair to comply with social distancing.
• Members should address the Chair as Chairman of the Committee, not Deputy Speaker.
• Government amendment 90 ensures goods meet highest standards across the UK.
• Amendment 73 ensures mutual recognition applies to existing legislation.
• Amendment 86 includes environmental, social, and labour standards in legitimate aims.
• Amendment 80 exempts Scottish fisheries from market access principles.
• New clause establishes a framework for a UK Council of Ministers.
• Reviews required within three months after the Act's passage.
• The UK Government is accused of breaking international law and devolution with their proposed Bill.
• Clauses 2 to 9 empower the government to compel Scotland to accept lower standards set elsewhere in the UK.
• Professor Michael Dougan observes that existing Scottish policies like minimum alcohol pricing controls could be subject to mutual recognition, preventing them from applying new rules to English imports.
• The Bill's proposals could trigger a race to the bottom, according to the National Farmers Union of Scotland.
• State aid provisions will mirror those of the World Trade Organisation.
• Nearly 95% of state aid last year received automatic approval from EU rules.
• Sir Robert Neill's amendment seeks to prevent certain parts of the Bill from coming into effect unless approved by the House of Commons.
• The amendment addresses powers given to Ministers to implement aspects of the Northern Ireland protocol against international law.
• Sir Robert Neill is not present in his place at the moment.
• The House agreed to a programme order on 14 September.
• Today's debate focuses on part 1 (except clause 11), part 2, part 3, and part 7 (except clause 50) of the Bill.
• Debates from previous sessions should not be re-run.
• Cash has spent 35 years serving on the European Scrutiny Committee and is its current Chairman.
• The Bill addresses state aids policies that impact various sectors including coal mining, steel industries, shipbuilding, and ports regulation.
• Every port in Europe is publicly owned compared to privately-owned UK ports supported by EU state aid.
• The Bill will ensure the UK escapes unfair discrimination under the EU state aid regime.
• It is important for voters' jobs and businesses in various constituencies including Labour ones.
• State aid rules cause total misery and tragedy, ultimately leading to the destruction of industries like coal and steel.
• Germany received £4 billion annually in grants and subsidies.
• The Court of Auditors' reports have not been signed off due to inadequate funding distribution.
• EU milk quotas and fraud scandals are cited as examples of mismanagement.
• UK taxpayers contributed up to £18 billion annually to the EU.
• The amendment seeks to rectify the anti-democratic nature of the Bill by giving devolved legislatures a vote.
• The Bill prevents effective legislation by requiring regulatory standards to be automatically accepted across UK parts, even if lower.
• It also gives Westminster spending powers in entirely devolved areas without consulting devolved Governments.
• The Bill modifies the devolution settlement by reserving new state aid powers to Westminster and restricting amendments from devolved Parliaments.
• The Secretary of State awards himself power to vary statutory requirements in mutual recognition and non-discrimination clauses without devolved consent.
• Concerns about undermining the principle that reflects interests of producers across UK nations.
• Questioning progress on recruitment of additional 50,000 customs agents needed for increased import/export declarations.
• The UK's internal market is crucial for trading relationships, especially within the country.
• Amendment 89 would give powers away from the Scottish Parliament to other devolved Administrations.
• Holden argues that supporting the Bill will provide confidence and certainty for businesses in the face of uncertainties like the COVID-19 pandemic.
• The Bill does not give legislative effect to Government commitments regarding devolved powers and environmental standards.
• Mutual recognition principle risks rendering new requirements ineffective if lower standards exist elsewhere.
• New clause 10 aims to provide exceptions for environmental protection measures, allowing individual jurisdictions to refuse mutual recognition based on public policy objectives.
• Rosie Winterton reminds members to use 'Chair' instead of 'Deputy Speaker' in Committee.
• This reminder was issued due to customary practice in Committee proceedings.
• The Bill overrides the devolution settlement in areas such as food standards, environmental protection, and building control.
• Amendments aim to protect Scottish Parliament’s ability to legislate in devolved areas.
• Schedule 4 of the Scotland Act 1998 limits the Scottish Parliament's ability to directly legislate in certain devolved areas.
• The Bill addresses non-tariff barriers such as professional standards.
• Businesses trade internally within the UK, not just internationally.
• The European Union would not give direct say in common standards to individual member states compared to the UK Parliament.
• Sixty per cent of Scottish exports go to the rest of the United Kingdom.
• The Bill aims to allow people and businesses to trade across the UK without facing different barriers in its different nations.
• The first principle means goods or services that can be legally sold in one part of the UK can be sold in any part of the UK.
• The second principle prevents parts of the UK from treating goods coming in from other parts of the UK less favourably than local goods.
• Portavogie harbour had 120 boats at one time, now reduced to approximately 60 due to EU regulations.
• The amendment seeks to maintain Northern Ireland's integral place in the UK internal market.
• The agrifood sector employs about 2,500 people.
• Craig Williams mentions a third of his constituents travel across the English-Welsh border daily for various purposes.
• Amendment 9 is perceived as transferring 70 powers to the Senedd, the Welsh Parliament.
• The Bill could allow UK government to override Scotland’s minimum price controls on alcohol.
• Professor Michael Dougan identified that Scotland's minimum price controls could be characterised as a form of product requirement under the principle of mutual recognition in the Bill.
• Anne McLaughlin cites a decrease in harmful drinking in Scotland following the implementation of minimum pricing.
• Scotland excludes companies with a poor track record on blacklisting from public contracts.
• Public bodies in Scotland are forbidden from awarding contracts solely based on cost.
• The Bill gives considerable latitude to the Secretary of State to amend procurement principles using affirmative resolution procedure.
• 23,000 to 30,000 people routinely cross the Irish border for work.
• 19% of frontier workers are in health and social care services.
• EU directive 2005/36/EC allows mutual recognition of professional qualifications between Ireland and UK.
• 9% of doctors in Northern Ireland are trained in another EU country.
• The Bill aims to ensure businesses can continue trading across the UK without new burdens or barriers.
• Scotland, Wales, and Northern Ireland would disproportionately suffer from internal barriers to trade.
• The bill guarantees more powers for the devolved bodies in at least 70 policy areas.
• The Bill applies to the whole of the UK.
• Labour’s amendment 86 seeks to expand legitimate aims permitting discrimination against goods from one part of the UK to another.
• Government new clause 12 enables guidance for traders and regulatory authorities on how the UK internal market principles operate.
• The speaker's constituency has about 35% or 36% of its working population in financial and professional services.
• There is a natural link and synergy between the City of London and Edinburgh’s financial services sector.
• Legal profession has a carve-out from uniform regulations to respect distinct legal systems in Scotland and Northern Ireland.
• The Bill does not cover relationships with Crown dependencies.
• There is a desire to see how to strengthen access between Crown dependencies and the UK on a reciprocal basis.
• Gibraltar's Government seeks free trade area access with the United Kingdom, supported by all parties in Gibraltar’s Parliament.
• Less than 1% of procurement exercises yielded a bid from outside the United Kingdom due to the OJEU process.
• The Bill risks undermining devolution and infringing on the devolution settlement.
• The Good Friday agreement is a binding international treaty that the Bill could breach.
• Experts such as the United Nations Human Rights Committee have criticized UK law in various areas.
• The Bill aims to support mutual recognition of goods and qualifications within the UK.
• Some clauses in the Bill are necessary due to potential bad faith actions from the EU.
• The MP rejects the idea that negotiations with the EU will be easy or smooth.
• The Bill seeks to align Scottish building standards with those of England despite Scotland’s higher safety standards.
• Clause 10 allows for secondary legislation that could lead to the privatisation of Scottish Water.
• Professor Michael Keating points out that UK Ministers would have powers to regulate a wide range of devolved matters under this Bill.
• The mutual recognition clause is viewed as the Whitehall superiority clause.
• Part 1 of the Bill introduces mutual recognition and non-discrimination mechanisms in UK trade.
• Clauses 5 and 6 affect labelling regarding product source, potentially undermining protected geographical indicators like Scotch whisky and beef.
• Clause 3(4) lists aspects of a product that could come under mutual recognition, including characteristics, performance standards, packaging and labelling, certification, and 'anything not falling within paragraphs (a) to (f)'.
• The Bill's necessity is questioned as previous trade continued without issues despite regulatory variations among the four nations.
• The Bill may restrict labelling on products like chlorine-washed chicken, which concerns many consumers.
• Mutual recognition clauses under the Bill could disadvantage local producers by not applying to goods from elsewhere in the UK.
• Part 3 of the Bill establishes new rules over professional qualifications, impacting various professions differently across the UK.
• The Bill is described as political because it addresses who decides in constitutional matters.
• Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland have devolved Governments, constituting profound change to the UK's constitutional settlement.
• New clause 9 aims to improve the Bill by requiring publication of a framework for a UK council of Ministers three months after passage.
• James Daly supports the United Kingdom Internal Market Bill.
• He believes the Bill ensures free and fair access across the UK.
• Daly argues that there is no evidence of the Government derogating from high standards.
• The UK was fined £2.4 billion for failing to uphold EU treaty obligations in 2018.
• There is £730 million unspent from the European structural funds that needs to be used by the end of the year.
• Germany's federal court ruled against the legality of the ECB’s bond buying programme, demonstrating potential conflicts between domestic and international law.
• New clause 11 would place a duty on Ministers to report on the progress and impact of the Bill.
• The Government has promised but not delivered statutory underpinning or transparency for common frameworks and the shared prosperity fund.
• A legal duty is proposed for reporting on Joint Committee progress within three months.
• The statement criticizes amendment 66 for potentially tearing up an international agreement.
• Publishing the provisions may breach Article 5 of the withdrawal agreement.
• The speaker mentions the treaty signed between the UK and the EU recently.
• The Bill secures and clarifies the internal market, ensuring continued trade within the UK.
• About 50% of Northern Ireland’s sales are to Great Britain; nearly 60% of Scottish and Welsh exports go to other parts of the UK.
• The amendments aim to prevent barriers to trade while allowing each part of the UK to safeguard its environment.
• Amendment 36 seeks to alter the process by which legitimate policy aims may be changed in the future.
• Amendment 80 would exclude fisheries in Scotland from market access principles, but the minister opposes this as it could create barriers to trade.
• The government will implement procurement reform through a wider package of reforms and separate primary legislation following a formal consultation.
• Amendments were made to clause 2(1)(b) and clause 2(2).
• Clause 5 was amended to exclude measures aimed at preventing the spread of pests or diseases.
• Amendment excludes specific regulations related to fertilisers, pesticides from mutual recognition principles.
• Amendments 93, 94, 95 clarify definitions in Part 1.
• Amendment 92 ensures contravening includes failing to comply with requirements.
• Amendments 97, 98, 99 ensure the introductory provision reflects effects of clauses 18 and 19.
• Amendments 100, 101, 102 clarify how exceptions for existing requirements apply to non-legislative requirements.
• Amendments and new clauses are being proposed in relation to the United Kingdom Internal Market Bill.
• Clause 21, Clauses 22 to 26, Clause 27, Clauses 48, 49 and 51 to 53 have been ordered to stand part of the Bill.
• An amendment would ensure no additional powers are reserved to Westminster unless devolved legislatures give their consent.
• The Speaker refers to a statement made earlier on the day of the debate.
• Opportunities for Members to question Ministers, Secretaries of State, and the Prime Minister are expected over the coming days, weeks, and months.