Recommendation 28

The current arrangements in Parliament for the scrutiny of international agreements are not commensurate with their constitutional importance. The House of Lords has taken steps to address this constitutional lacuna with the establishment of the International Agreements Committee. By contrast, the scrutiny arrangements in the House of Commons are currently insufficient to carry out what is a core function of Parliament, namely the scrutiny of international agreements. This core function should be understood to include involvement in the mandate setting and negotiation phases, the ultimate approval of treaties, and holding the Government to account for their exercise of powers to negotiate and reach these agreements. The important work done by the International Trade Committee during its existence has demonstrated the vital nature of a strategic approach to the parliamentary scrutiny of treaties. Furthermore, we are of the view that the statutory changes we have recommended earlier in this report, requiring all treaties to be subject to parliamentary process and, in appropriate cases, expressly approved by the House of Commons, should result in a greater focus from committees on international agreements. It is clear that the House of Commons is well placed to use its existing subject specialism in the departmental committee structure to provide detailed policy-focused scrutiny of international agreements. However, we note that this may not be sufficient by itself. We recommend that the Liaison Committee adds the scrutiny of international agreements to the core tasks of all relevant committees. To further support this aim, we call on the Government to bring forward a motion to amend the Standing Orders to add “scrutiny of relevant international agreements” to the remit of all relevant committees. Moreover, to ensure that scrutiny of international agreements is given the necessary attention in the House of Commons, we further recommend that a bespoke committee is estab