<p>Questions Without Notice from the Party Leaders</p>

Part of 1. 1. Questions to the First Minister – in the Senedd at 1:50 pm on 13 September 2016.

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Photo of Carwyn Jones Carwyn Jones Labour 1:50, 13 September 2016

Well, it’ll be a Wales that, of course, is still very much part of Europe, a Wales that looks outwards and continues to be successful in attracting Investment. That’s the message I took to the US last week. From my perspective, it’s hugely important that we have tariff-free access to the market in goods and services. It would not be to our advantage if tariffs were to be imposed. Yes, in keeping with the promise that was made by those in the UK Government now, we want to make sure that Wales does not lose out on a penny; that much is true. What needs to be explored now is what kind of model we need: is it the European Economic Area model, is it the European Free Trade Association model, is it a customs-union model, is it a free trade agreement model? Those are the four models that deliver at least partial access to the single market. The World Trade Organization model doesn’t work, to my mind, as far as Wales is concerned. But we do need to understand, first of all, whether the UK Government will keep to its commitment that the devolved Governments will be at the heart of negotiations, and not at the end of negotiations. It also means the UK Government itself has to work out what it wants. It’s talked about a bespoke deal; fine, but what are the elements of that deal that the UK Government sees as essential? For me, funding and access to the single market are fundamental. Without them, Wales would undoubtedly lose out. There needs to be an examination of what it means for freedom of movement as far as people are concerned. We know that many, many people voted to leave because of that issue, and that needs to be handled carefully in terms of the public view. The next steps are: the Cabinet sub-committee met yesterday to look at the initial challenges that Brexit presents, and the external advisory group that I’m putting in place will meet at the end of the month.