First Minister Carwyn Jones will meet the Prime Minister in Downing Street for talks on the EU Withdrawal Bill today.
This was published under the 2016 to 2021 administration of the Welsh Government
The First Minister of Scotland Nicola Sturgeon will also attend the meeting. The Welsh Government have serious concerns about the UK government’s EU Withdrawal Bill, which, as currently drafted, allows the UK government to take control of devolved policy areas, such as farming and fishing, once the UK has left the EU.
The meeting follows the introduction to the National Assembly of the Welsh Government’s Continuity Bill as a fall back option which seeks to transfer EU Law in areas already devolved to Wales into Welsh law on the day the UK leaves the EU.
Carwyn Jones said:
“We are at a crucial stage in these talks. The UK government is moving in the right direction, but its latest offer, which has not been agreed with the devolved administrations, is insufficient, and we could not recommend the Assembly to give its legislative consent to the Withdrawal Bill on the basis of the amendment they have proposed.
“We want to resolve this and are committed to continuing to try to seek agreement before the Bill finishes its passage through Parliament, but time is against us. That us why we will continue to progress our Continuity Bill through the National Assembly, but as we have said repeatedly, this is only a fall-back option
“Just last week at the JMC (EN) we and the Scottish Government put forward a number of ideas about how we could move forward from the UK government’s proposals and I look forward to discussing these with the Prime Minister.”