If you’re wondering about the UK Parliament’s role in ratifying the EU-UK future relationship treaty, there’s a handy guide here from the House of Commons Library commonslibrary.parliament.uk/uk-parliaments…
2/ But to save you the trouble, I’ve summarised it here.
3/ Firstly, it’s the UK govt, not parliament, which negotiates a treaty under its prerogative power. These powers are subject to some constraints. The Constitutional Reform & Governance Act (CRAG) gives parliament a limited role in ratifying treaties
4/ A copy of the treaty must be laid before parliament so MPs, Lords and committees can take an informed view. Under section 20 of CRAG there’s a period of 21 sitting days one day after receipt of the treaty (both houses must be sitting) for scrutiny
5/ Parliament can pass a resolution to reject to ratification. A minister can extend the 21 day period but Parliament cannot force that. The Lords can’t block or delay ratification; if it passes a resolution to that effect the govt can proceed anyway, provided it explains why
6/ If the Commons passes a resolution against ratification within the 21 day period it can delay the process, but the govt can keep resetting the 21 day period to make further attempts to ratify (neither house has attempted this since CRAG came into effect)
7/ CRAG doesn’t guarantee a debate or vote in either house before ratification - that’s up to the govt or, eg, a motion being moved on a designated Opposition day
8/ Say the govt lays the treaty on Wed 18 Nov and Parliament sat every Mon-Thur up to Christmas Eve, the treaty could be ratified on Christmas Day and come into force by the end of the transition (2300hr GMT Dec 31). If a deal is reached later, Fri, Sat and Sundays wd be needed
9/ CRAG allows the govt to speed up ratification in “exceptional” circumstances under Section 22, ie by dispensing with Section 20. This cannot be used if either House has resolved against ratification as laid before Parliament under CRAG
10/ If the EU and UK only reach a deal in late Nov/early Dec that could make it harder for the UK to ratify before the transition ends. The govt could use Section 22 (“exceptional circumstances”) but it would leave Parliament less time to scrutinise and even prevent a vote
11/ The govt could also use primary legislation to shorten the ratification process, ie giving Parliament the opportunity to disapply CRAG, meaning ratification depends on the speed with which the govt can pass the bill, rather than on CRAG
12/ David Frost told the Lords EU Committee in Oct that he assumed there would be primary legislation to implement “at least some of” any of the treaty’s provisions in UK law
13/ Even if Section 22 is invoked or CRAG is disapplied, there could still be debates, to give the govt political cover - the govt has yet to indicate its intentions, and a timetable might only be forthcoming when a treaty is agreed in principle
14/ So, ultimately the UK has more discretion when it comes to time running out than the EU side. The European Parliament must ratify the treaty and the plenary date is Dec 14. The EP will want votes on the treaty in a number of committees
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