Jeremy Miles: Thank you, Dirprwy Lywydd. I thank Mick Antoniw for his contribution on behalf of the committee. I echo the points he makes about the increasing complexity of Welsh law as a consequence of some of these amendments, which need to be introduced just to make the statute book function effectively. And I know the committee understands that making the amendments in one set of regulations...
Jeremy Miles: These regulations include amendments to primary legislation that are within the legislative competence of the Senedd. They amend the Interpretation Act 1978 and the Legislation (Wales) Act 2019, in relation to the interpretation of references to relevant separation agreement law. This is a new body of law, defined by section 7(c) of the European Union (Withdrawal) Act 2018. It captures...
Jeremy Miles: Thank you, Deputy Presiding Officer. I welcome this opportunity to explain the background to this statutory instrument consent motion relating to the European Union Withdrawal (Consequential Modifications) (EU Exit) Regulations 2020. I’d also like to thank the Legislation, Justice and Constitution Committee for their scrutiny work on this issue and for the report published on 12 November....
Jeremy Miles: Well, we are way beyond the point at which the UK Government's response ought to be coloured by political considerations—50 days before the end of the transition period—and we seek continuously to be collaborative in working with the UK Government to prepare Wales as best we can for the end of the transition period. But I'm not going to pretend for a moment that we have a very different...
Jeremy Miles: Negotiations, preparedness, frameworks and the internal market have been the principal JMC(EN) topics—all are areas that greatly impact the people of Wales. Unfortunately, the UK Government’s inadequate commitment to co-operative working in these areas has undermined the contribution of the devolved Governments in all aspects of preparing to leave the European Union.
Jeremy Miles: Well, I'm afraid I'm going to have to disappoint Dai Lloyd on that. We are waiting for clarity on these fundamental commitments in relation to successor EU funds, and I can hear the frustration in his voice, and I assure him that I share it entirely. He is right to say that a significant success that we've had in relation to using European Union funds has exactly been in the space of...
Jeremy Miles: I thank David Rees for that question, and I think he is right to say that the internal market Bill is clearly an attempt to give the UK Government powers to deliver parts of the shared prosperity fund, which otherwise it wouldn't be able to do. Though its financial assistance powers are described as being there to work with us, but plainly are there to work around us, and so I share his...
Jeremy Miles: I understand, Llywydd, that you have agreed to group this with question 8.
Jeremy Miles: The UK Government has not shared any details yet of its shared prosperity fund with any of the devolved Governments, despite our attempts to engage. We expect some details to be announced during the spending review, which is, as he will know, one month before our EU funding begins to tail off.
Jeremy Miles: Well, the work of the trade policy advisory group, of course, is only one of the ways in which the Welsh Government identifies opportunities to engage internationally. The First Minister is making a statement later today in relation to the international strategy more broadly. And, as I think the Member will know, we have invested significantly in supporting Welsh exporters to navigate the...
Jeremy Miles: Yes. The trade policy advisory group provides expert strategic advice to the Welsh Government on international trade matters and helps shape our positions in relation to free trade agreements.
Jeremy Miles: I thank the Member for her supplementary, and I will take this opportunity of saying how glad I was to see that Joe Biden was elected president with such a resounding result. It's a triumph for internationalism, principle and reason. So, I am very pleased that we're having this discussion in that context. She's absolutely right to say that the prospects of a deal with the European Union...
Jeremy Miles: A deal is still possible, but both sides now need to demonstrate political movement and flexibility. But even with a deal, there will be long-term damage to the economy and we certainly cannot afford the chaos that would result from leaving transition without a deal in the middle of a global health pandemic.
Jeremy Miles: I do agree with David Melding's concern and his analysis. Welsh lamb is one of our great exports and it's exported to the European Union because there is a good market for it there. It's a near market and it's a significant scale, so protecting that export is absolutely fundamental. We've been advocating that sort of position—and I know that he knows this—for a very long time, and have...
Jeremy Miles: We continue to provide guidance and financial support to farmers through Farming Connect, through the sustainable production grant and the farm business grant. We are also engaging with DEFRA and the other devolved Governments on plans for supporting the sheep sector in the event of no trade agreement with the European Union.
Jeremy Miles: I thank Mike Hedges for that question. I do share his concern. The end of transition action plan that we published this morning identifies the risks that he describes in his questions to the red meat sector should we end the transition period without the kind of trade deal that he talks about. That is why it's so important to ensure that we don't find ourselves in that position, and if we...
Jeremy Miles: Well, that's an important question from the Member. The reason that the trade levels are so low are because of the pattern of trade in terms of our red meat exports with the European Union, which means that 90 per cent of our lamb exports end up in the European Union, for example, and that is as a result of farmers in Wales making a perfectly rational decision to export to one of the largest...
Jeremy Miles: We have been very clear with the UK Government that any future free trade agreements must not undermine our agriculture sector. Our farmers must not be undercut by unfair competition from imports that do not meet our standards on food safety, animal health and welfare or the environment.
Jeremy Miles: Well, this is a very important question, if I may say so, and the risk of diverting trade is one that we are very concerned about as a Government. There are two major questions that we're still waiting for clarity on, stemming partly from the activity on the protocol in Northern Ireland. The first question is on goods from Northern Ireland—they can go to England and Scotland directly,...
Jeremy Miles: The changes happening in the ports come in the wake of the decision by the UK Government to look for the kind of agreement or contract that's going to create barriers to exports and imports at our ports. Now, we've been calling on the UK Government to include us in the discussions that they've been having from the start of the year. And only very recently has that happened, although it has...
