In this short post, Jack Williams of Monckton Chambers provides an update on the Joint Committee’s first formal decision, which was adopted on 12 June 2020.
Today (12/06/20), the Joint Committee has reportedly adopted its first formal decision “pertaining to the technical correction of a certain number of minor deficiencies and omissions in the Withdrawal Agreement” (see EU press release here). The UK’s press release states that “The Committee took one Decision – to amend ten minor errors and omissions in the Withdrawal Agreement, related to citizens’ rights and financial provisions, required for legal certainty.”
The Joint Committee is a body created by the Withdrawal Agreement consisting of representatives of the EU and the UK and acting by mutual consent: see Articles 164 – 166 of the Withdrawal Agreement. Annex VIII to the Withdrawal Agreement lays down the rules of procedure of the Joint Committee.
Pursuant to Article 164(5)(d) of the Withdrawal Agreement, the Joint Committee can adopt decisions to amend the Withdrawal Agreement in order to correct errors, address omissions or other deficiencies or address unforeseen circumstances. Such amendments have to be “necessary” and “may not amend the essential elements of this agreement”. Moreover, such amendments cannot relate to Parts One (“Common provisions”), Four (“Transition”) or Six (“Institutional and final provisions”) of the Withdrawal Agreement.
Article 166(2) of the Withdrawal Agreement stipulates that the Joint Committee’s adopted decisions are binding on the EU and UK, have the same force as the Withdrawal Agreement and must be implemented by the UK and EU.
Although the formal decision of the Joint Committee has not yet been published, the likely content can be seen from the European Commission’s proposal for a Council decision establishing the EU’s position to be adopted in the Joint Committee and the consequential Council Decision of 10/06/20. The primary amendments appear to affect minor aspects of:
- the financial provisions of the Withdrawal Agreement by amending particular dates which had already passed at the moment of the Withdrawal Agreement’s entry into force;
- the Northern Ireland Protocol by adding eight acts which are apparently essential for the application of the rules of the internal market for goods to Northern Ireland which were not originally listed in Annex 2 to the Protocol; and
- the Withdrawal Agreement provisions on the coordination of social security systems by adding two decisions.
A link to the formal decision of the Joint Committee will be added to the relevant resources page on this website once it is published.
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