DExEU has just published its take on the Mapping Exercise on North South Cooperation. I’ll have the story up on the @rtenews website shortly. Top takeaway: there are 156 areas of NS cooperation facilitated by the GFA.
Some areas are not affected by EU law, some are partially underpinned by it, and others are “directly” underpinned by it.
There is a technical cover note designed for House of Commons consumption, setting out where this NS cooperation comes from, its context and extent, and how EU law underpins it. It follows a request from @hilarybennmp chair of the DExEU committee.
The European Commission will publish its own take on the mapping exercise shortly.
The 156 areas of NS coop fall under 14 headings, including one for the 7 Implementation Bodies set up under the GFA. The other 13 headings cover agriculture, environment, health, tourism, energy, education, sports, culture and the arts, transport, telecoms, security, fisheries
The mapping exercise is highly sensitive: it was a major driver of Dublin’s push for a backstop to protect the GFA “in all its parts”. The extent of NS coop has been disputed by the DUP and some Brexiteers
The EU Ombudsman Emily O’Reilly launched an investigation following a complaint that the Mapping exercise shd be published. The Commission argued it was too sensitive during the negotiations.
O’Reilly accepted this, but urged the report to be published when the negotiations concluded, which they have (we think). Today DExEU has set out the 156 areas of NS coop and a six page cover note. The areas are not disputed, but the EU report may have a different emphasis
