3. What discussions has the Counsel General held with law officers regarding the European Court of Justice ruling on the Aberthaw power station? OAQ(5)0032(CG)[W]

Thank you for the question. It is not my intention to make statements about discussions I have had with law officers or to disclose the content of any such discussions. This is an established convention designed to preserve the confidentiality of those discussions and the relationships between law officers, and I look forward to your supplementary question.

Thank you, Counsel General. You are slightly better on the supplementaries as well. So, I’ll see if I can tempt you. Since I tabled this question, there’s been a very important report from the Justice Committee of the House of Commons, which has a specific recommendation with regard to the work of the Court of Justice of the European Union following Brexit. It says very clearly that the Justice Committee recommends a continuing role for the Court of Justice of the European Union as a price worth paying to maintain the effective cross-border tools of justice.’

Of course, this question relates to environmental justice and unlawful emissions. Can I ask, therefore, the Counsel General, first of all: does he welcome that report from the Justice Committee and see a continuing role for the court of justice as we leave the European Union to maintain those cross-border justice relationships? Can I secondly ask him what his advice would be as the Counsel General and the premier law officer in Wales to a Welsh citizen who is frustrated with the fact that Aberthaw power station continues to pump out illegal emissions, despite the European court having found the UK Government was in contravention back in last September?

I knew there’d be a sting in the tail to the supplementary. The first part of your question with regard to the European Court of Justice is in fact an extremely important point and, of course, because of the great repeal Bill, which is intended to retain the continuity, or to embed, basically, European law into the United Kingdom law, clearly, the decisions of the European Court of Justice will, therefore, become embedded within the jurisprudence of the United Kingdom, as they are at the moment. That will be retained and, of course, the question remains of subsequent interpretation. So, in fact, the European Court of Justice does not go away and, in fact, it’s very arguable that it plays a very, very significant continuing role and a role with which, even out of the European Union, the United Kingdom would want to be engaged with, because environmental issues do not know geographical national boundaries. I think one of the most interesting areas is how that is going to be dealt with, and also, I think, within Welsh Government, how we wish to look at and refer to the issues and the various directives and regulations and changes that take place during what might be a transitional period out of the European Union.

With regard to the point you make about the case itself, and you referred specifically to a Welsh citizen, well, of course, it’s not appropriate for me to advise individual citizens; my role is in respect of Welsh Government. But it is worth taking note of what the judgment specifically was about.

It was about a specific large coal plant directive that, in fact, only applied to one plant in the United Kingdom, as you will know, which was Aberthaw. And, of course, there was a derogation from that—and this is very technical, and, when I read the judgment, I wished I’d been a more attentive student when I was studying chemistry many, many years ago—relating to the actual emissions that arose from the burning of coal and the particular blends and so on.

And the United Kingdom position was that that derogation applied to Aberthaw, the Commission disagreed, it went to the European Court of Justice, which also agreed with the Commission that the derogation didn’t apply. Natural Resources Wales, of course, is the appropriate regulatory body, and, as I understand the position now, the process is under way in terms of the changes to the permit for Aberthaw—that that will probably be completed by the end of March, and that, after that date, there should be compliance with the European Union directive. Whatever rights individuals have is a matter for them to take their own advices and actions.