Part of 1. Questions to the Minister for Environment, Energy and Rural Affairs – in the Senedd at 2:03 pm on 15 May 2019.
Thank you for that question. Certainly, I've made it very clear that we don't want to see any diminishment of our environmental protections that we've had in the EU. If anything, we want to enhance them. The Member will be aware that we are out to consultation on governance and principles at the current time. That consultation closes on 9 June. I would encourage everybody to put forward their responses. Certainly, I am working with stakeholders and seeking their views and advice in relation to post Brexit.
You will be aware of the ministerial round-table that I have, and the RSPB are a member of my round-table. They've certainly mentioned that we could look at a strong, independent watchdog. Clearly, there are organisations in place at the current time that could look at that, but we want to ensure that there's no gap from leaving the EU. So, when we have the consultation responses, and we've had a chance to consider those, then we will be able to come forward with whether we think that that is actually the way forward. But, certainly, there has to be somewhere where citizens can go, post Brexit, if they can't go to the European court like they can at the current time.