Jeremy Miles, The Counsel General and Minister for European Transition
This was published under the 2016 to 2021 administration of the Welsh Government
As Senedd Members will be aware, the Welsh Government has been working with the UK Government and the other Devolved Governments to develop common frameworks for a number of policy areas in which, when the UK was an EU Member State, the overarching policy approach was previously agreed at an EU level.
As a part of this process, a set of provisional frameworks were developed in the run up to the end of the transition period. Each government has been working through the approval process for these provisional frameworks. The governments are now in a collective position to publish four of these provisional frameworks, which have received the endorsement of portfolio and JMC(EN) Ministers in all UK nations.
These four provisional frameworks relate to the areas of:
- Food Compositional Standards and Labelling
- Public Procurement
- Blood Safety and Quality
- Organs, Tissues and Cells Safety and Quality
These documents represent the position as at the end of 2020 – they therefore reflect a specific moment in development and it is accepted that further work is needed before the governments can give them their final approval. They are being shared at this point in the interests of transparency, and not with a view to seeking full scrutiny at this point.
The governments propose that these provisional frameworks documents should undergo further development (for example, to ensure they fully reflect the Trade and Cooperation Agreement) during this year including the need to satisfactorily address the cross-cutting issues, and undertake further stakeholder engagement where required. When they are deemed sufficiently developed, we anticipate that the all governments will submit them to their legislatures seeking their full for formal scrutiny.
Making these provisional frameworks public at this stage reflects our commitment to give visibility and promote understanding around the development of common frameworks. Further updates on the development of these four frameworks, and the position on the other provisional frameworks, will be given at the earliest opportunity.