| Author (Corporate) | United Kingdom: House of Lords: Library |
|---|---|
| Series Title | Library Note |
| Series Details | LLN 2018/11 (25.01.18) |
| Publication Date | 19/06/2018 |
| Content Type | Journal | Series | Blog |
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Members of the House of Lords, including scientists, academics, doctors, business leaders and former chancellors of the exchequer, secretaries of state, law lords and heads of the civil service, debated the key purpose and principles of the European Union (Withdrawal) Bill during the House of Lords second reading, on 30 and 31 January 2018. A House of Lords Library Briefing was prepared in advance of the second reading. During second reading, members debated the main purpose of the bill and flag up concerns and specific areas where they think amendments (changes) were needed. There are usually no votes and no changes suggested at this stage. Changes would be usually suggested and voted on in later stages of the bill: committee, report and third reading. The House of Lords Constitution Committee published a report called European Union (Withdrawal) Bill on the 29 January 2018, a day before the House of Lords held second reading of the Bill. In its report the Committee called on the UK Government to amend the Bill. They said that legislation was necessary to ensure legal continuity and certainty when the United Kingdom left the European Union. The Committee did not comment on the merits of Brexit, but concluded that the Bill, as drafted, had fundamental flaws of a constitutional nature. The Committee found that the Bill risked undermining the legal certainty it sought to provide, gave overly-broad powers to ministers, and had significant consequences for the relationship between the UK Government and the devolved administrations. The Committee proposed a number of recommendations to improve the Bill to make it more constitutionally appropriate and fit for purpose, while still meeting the Government’s objectives. Nevertheless, the bill passed its second reading in the House of Lords on the 31 January 2018 without a vote – after some 20 hours of debate over two days, during which 190 peers spoke - the highest number on record for this stage of a bill in the Lords. The Committee Stage in the House of Lords began on the 21 February 2018 and was completed on the 28 March 2018. The Committee stage was completed with the bill unamended. The Report stage began on the 18 April 2018. The Bill was considered for six days on report, between 18 April and 8 May 2018. For details and analysis of the report stage click here. By the 8 May 2018 the House of Lords had adopted 14 substantive amendments to the Bill. + a requirement to report on negotiations to continue in a customs union with the EU This led to calls from some Brexit favouring Conservative MPs to call for a fundamental reform of the 'unelected' House of Lords. The Third Reading of the Bill was heard on the 16 May 2018, a chance for members to 'tidy up' the bill and make changes. The government suffered a further defeat on one motion. The Bill then returned to the House of Commons for further consideration on the 12-13 June 2018. After two days of limited debate and much behind the scenes negotiations the government overturned the fifteen House of Lords amendments which it opposed. The bill then returned to the House of Lords for consideration of House of Commons amendments on 18 June 2018. After further negotiations, the House of Lords gave their final agreement to the latest version of the bill on the 20 June 2018. The bill now awaited royal assent. Background The programme was dominated by proposed legislation dealing with the United Kingdom's planned leaving of the European Union. Eight of the twenty seven bills to be introduced were connected with Brexit. + European Union (Withdrawal) Bill (introduced on the 13 July 2017) Even though the European Union (Withdrawal) Bill was introduced in July 2017 parliamentary scrutiny in practice only began in the autumn of 2017 after the summer break. Opposition parties, human rights groups and the leaders of Scotland and Wales criticised aspects of the bill and suggested they would call for substantive amendments. During the Committee Stage of the Bill in November and December 2017 the House of Commons Library produced a series of Research Briefings on aspects / articles of the Bill: + The European Union (Withdrawal) Bill: Clause 7 'the correcting power' The House of Lords Constitution Committee published a critical report on the Bill on 29 January 2018. The Committee did not comment on the merits of Brexit, but concluded that the Bill, as drafted, had fundamental flaws of a constitutional nature. The Committee found that the Bill risked undermining the legal certainty it sought to provide, gave overly-broad powers to ministers, and had significant consequences for the relationship between the UK Government and the devolved administrations. The Committee proposed a number of recommendations to improve the Bill to make it more constitutionally appropriate and fit for purpose, while still meeting the Government’s objectives. Linked politically but separately the UK Government had announced on the 13 November 2017 a new Bill to enshrine the Withdrawal Agreement between the UK and the EU in domestic law. The Withdrawal Agreement and Implementation Bill would give legal standing to separation from the EU. It would confirm that the major policies set out in the Withdrawal Agreement would be directly implemented into domestic law by primary legislation – not by secondary legislation under the EU (Withdrawal) Bill. This would allow for Parliamentary scrutiny and oversight of the process. |
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| Source Link | Link to Main Source http://researchbriefings.files.parliament.uk/documents/LLN-2018-0011/LLN-2018-0011.pdf |
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| Countries / Regions | United Kingdom |
