<p>The First Ministers of the UK’s Devolved Governments </p>

Part of 1. 1. Questions to the First Minister – in the Senedd at 2:06 pm on 9 May 2017.

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Photo of Carwyn Jones Carwyn Jones Labour 2:06, 9 May 2017

There are differing views amongst the Governments. The view in Scotland is, basically, ‘Independence will resolve the issue.’ The view in Northern Ireland is mixed. Certainly, I’ve heard the former First Minister of Northern Ireland say there shouldn’t be any state aid rules at all. Now, we have to come to a position, which I think is perfectly reasonable, where we all say where powers are transferred back from Brussels, they come to the devolved administrations. I see no reason why that can’t be agreed—the First Minister of Scotland is in agreement with me on that, so we’re in the same position. My view is, and I’ve not heard a voice dissenting from this, that if we are to have an internal single market, the rules have to be agreed and they have to be policed by an independent adjudication body, not by the UK Government. How can the UK Government police it anyway? If we decide to ignore them, there’s nothing they can do. Now, that’s in nobody’s interests. We have to have a clear system. We have to have faith in a system that is seen as genuinely independent—not as we have now in the JMC dispute resolution process where, if there is a dispute between ourselves and the UK Treasury, ultimately it is resolved by the UK Treasury. Those days have to go. This can be done perfectly sensibly and perfectly properly in order to safeguard the interests of Wales.