Source · Select Committees · Northern Ireland Affairs Committee

First Report - Investment in Northern Ireland

Northern Ireland Affairs Committee HC 85 Published 8 November 2022

Report Status

Government responded

Conclusions & Recommendations

12 items (12 recs)

Source

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Government Response

AI assessment · 12 of 12 classified

Accepted 5

Accepted in Part 2

Acknowledged 5

Recommendations

2 results

3 Accepted in Part

Para 22

We acknowledge the interest that the Government will have in the allocation of funding and...

Recommendation

We acknowledge the interest that the Government will have in the allocation of funding and the delivery of Shared Prosperity Fund projects in all parts of the UK, including Northern Ireland. We are pleased, however, to see that Whitehall has … Read more

Government Response Summary

The government states that the UKSPF Northern Ireland Partnership Group has concluded its initial work, and they are reviewing its remit and membership for the delivery phase, including the possible establishment of thematic sub-groups. They will offer Northern Ireland Civil Service officials the opportunity to participate and intend to commission NI Executive Departments or their arms-length bodies.

Northern Ireland Office

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8 Accepted in Part

The Protocol means Northern Ireland occupies a unique position among the four nations of the...

Recommendation

The Protocol means Northern Ireland occupies a unique position among the four nations of the UK: with its feet in both the EU single and UK Internal Markets, it is attractive to some investors; while the bureaucracy involved in maintaining … Read more The Protocol means Northern Ireland occupies a unique position among the four nations of the UK: with its feet in both the EU single and UK Internal Markets, it is attractive to some investors; while the bureaucracy involved in maintaining that stance may deter others - the two subsidy control regimes currently in place being one example of this. The Protocol also means that new free trade agreements are bound to have a different impact on Northern Ireland compared with the rest of the UK. Imports from third countries to Northern Ireland may still attract tariffs, EU regulations will still apply there (even if the UK’s own rules change in future) and EU rule of origin provisions will apply to Northern Ireland if both the EU and UK have an agreement with the same third country. We are therefore surprised that the Government did not make an assessment of the effect of the Protocol on its recently negotiated agreements, and by their description of the figures in those assessments as “relatively ballpark.” Investors and existing businesses crave certainty. Therefore, we ask the Government to clarify how it plans to manage regulatory divergence between Northern Ireland and Great Britain, and what plans it has to leverage Northern Ireland’s unique position as part of the UK Internal Market and the EU Single Market, including its approach to resolving subsidy control complications, to benefit the local economy and inward investment prospects. To provide businesses with a clear idea of how future trade agreements will affect their sectors, the Government must also (a) incorporate the effect of the Protocol into detailed and precise economic impact assessments and (b) include for each agreement an explanatory memorandum setting out where it expects the provisions of the Protocol to take precedence over the provisions of the agreement. All of this is subject to change pending UK-EU negotiations and the NI Protocol Bill. (Paragraph 49) Investment inNorthern Ireland 33 Educatio Show less

Government Response Summary

The government acknowledges NI's unique position but states that separate explanatory memoranda specific to how trade agreements interact with the Protocol are unnecessary, and that all provisions of the UK’s free trade agreements co- exist with provisions within the Protocol. It mentions support through the UK Trader Scheme and Trader Support Service.

Northern Ireland Office

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