6. Will the Counsel General provide an update on the work of the Joint Ministerial Committee on European negotiations? OQ55459

The JMC(EN) has met twice this year. Negotiations, preparedness and the inter-governmental relations review have been the principal topics. Throughout, the UK Government has not used that forum to foster co-operative working. The JMC(EN) unfortunately remains erratic, and we continue to press for a more productive approach. We meet again tomorrow.

Thank you for that answer, Counsel General. I think, to a large extent, you dealt with some of this in your answer to Mandy Jones at the beginning, but the approach of the UK Government is certainly worrying and must be a major concern to many economic sectors in Wales. Indeed, in your scrutiny before the External Affairs and Additional Legislation Committee just yesterday, it reinforced the fears of many in this Chamber; I think it was Alun Davies, actually, who said that you're dealing with a UK Government in chaos. My concern, therefore, is that when we also consider the work that you're doing around an economic recovery plan for Wales, whether this weakness in the four-nation engagement of the UK Government is a significant barrier to meeting our future needs, at what is, effectively, a very critical point for the Welsh economy as we move towards the end of this transition period.

The arrangements that we have on an inter-governmental basis are inadequate, certainly for the challenges that we faced in leaving the European Union, and they've been intensified by the combined effects on our economy, which is what her question is focusing on, of both COVID and leaving the European Union. What we need is a rational set of relationships that are able to manage difference and avoid or reconcile disputes when they arise in a much more mature, programmed way than currently exists, and in a way that better reflects the parity of esteem that Governments across the UK should expect as a foundational principle here. 

In the context of the economy in particular, it is disappointing to say that the work around the internal market—which is very important, actually, in terms of how the UK's economy functions into the future, and which we as a Government certainly think is a—. You know, there's certainly work there that could bring benefit to Wales in terms of co-operation across the UK about economic development. But if that is brought forward as the proposition and imposed by one part of the UK on the other, that will not work, and it will not be acceptable to this Senedd. I would be very surprised if it were. And so, that is a good example, I think, of the difference that we think can be brought by a collaborative, principles-based approach, rather than one part of the UK seeking to impose an approach on the other. I very much hope that the proposals that the UK Government brings forward in this space, if they are as we expect them to be, can move away from those and closer to the kind of arrangements that we think are in the best interests not just of Wales, but of all parts of the UK.