@SKinnock’s question on the impact of Article 10 of the NI Protocol on subsidies and tax measures across the UK including Great Britain gets an unconvincing answer from @michaelgove. Gove claims that the scope of Art 10 is a matter for the Joint Committee. But that isn’t right.
Art 10 is applied by the Commission and UK courts (it has permanent direct effect in our law under s7A of the Withdrawal Act). Ultimately its scope is decided by the ECJ (on appeal from the Commission or on a reference by UK courts). See Art 12.
The Joint Committee plays no role in that. It is not its job to take on the role of the Commission, courts and ultimately the ECJ in deciding whether a UK measure (eg a tax break to all UK companies in a certain sector) affects trade in goods between NI and the EU.
You may wonder how the Government ended up agreeing a provision that gave the Commission, UK courts and ultimately the ECJ a *permanent* role in deciding whether (eg) a UK tax break is contrary to EU State aid law. That’s a good question.
For background: - threadreaderapp.com/thread/1194996…
