‘Brexit, trade and customs: implications for Wales’

Part of 2. Questions to the Counsel General and Brexit Minister (in respect of his Brexit Minister responsibilities) – in the Senedd at 2:54 pm on 13 February 2019.

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Photo of David Melding David Melding Conservative 2:54, 13 February 2019

Thank you for that answer. I wonder if you read the evidence from representatives of the University of Edinburgh, the Institute for Government and the University of Sussex, where those witnesses expressed considerable reservation on any power for the devolved institutions to have a veto over trade deals, and one of the witnesses expressly warned that that was a potentially dangerous process, which was likely to lead to a great reduction in the number of possible trade deals that would be feasible. Now, we clearly need effective consultation—deep consultation—with a thorough mechanism that if a devolved institution is concerned about implications of a trade deal, that that's raised also in Parliament, and there are many processes that would allow that. That would take us along the lines of mechanisms used, for example, in Canada and Australia. But can you tell me whether you are expressly ruling out this nuclear weapon of somehow having embedded in devolved institutions a power of veto over trade deals?