NICOLA Sturgeon and Carwyn Jones have has published a list of “substantial” demands they want to become law in order to avoid a constitutional crisis over Brexit.
In a joint letter to Theresa May, the Scottish and Welsh First Ministers said they stood ready to cooperate with the UK Government to prepare for the “upheaval of EU withdrawal”.
However the key Brexit legislation, the EU Withdrawal Bill currently going through Westminster, was “preventing this essential cooperation and coordination”.
The devolved governments say the Bill, as drafted, would undermine devolution, as it would see powers repatriated from Brussels, even those in devolved areas, go to Westminster rather than Edinburgh or Cardiff at Brexit.
Westminster would then decide which powers were forwarded to the devolved governments and when.
The Scottish Government also published a list of 111 powers it has said would be vulnerable to a Westminster "power grab" under the EU Bill.
The Welsh government has a list of 64 powers affecting its operation.
Warning they were working on their own fall-back legislation if the Bill was imposed, the SNP and Labour First Ministers published 38 joint amendments to beef up the powers of Edinburgh and Cardiff, and stop Westminster imposing cross-border changes unilaterally.
They said: “We want a EU (Withdrawal) Bill that can be made to work with, not against, devolution.
“The current Bill will need to be substantially amended for us to be able to recommend to our respective legislatures that they give their consent to it.
“Our Governments have therefore prepared a set of amendments which, if made, would make the Bill one which we could consider recommending to the Scottish Parliament and the National Assembly for Wales.
“We hope they will be received in the way they are intended: as a constructive contribution by the devolved administrations, which would enable progress to be made among the governments in a way which respects the hard-won devolution settlements of the UK.”
The amendments are designed to:
-Ensure devolved policy areas come back to the Scottish Parliament and National Assembly of Wales on withdrawal from the EU.
-Prevent UK ministers unilaterally changing the Scotland Act and Government of Wales Act.
-Require the agreement of the Scottish Government on necessary changes to current EU law in devolved areas after Brexit.
-Ensure additional restrictions are not placed on devolved ministers compared with UK Government ministers.
The list of 111 potential "power grab" casualties identifies where the UK Government believes Brexit and devolution “intersect”.
It includes agricultural support, fisheries management support, genetically-modified crop regulations, criminal justice matters including Europol, and rail franchising issues.
Fracking, procurement, aviation noise, tobacco regulation, animal welfare, renewable energy, and tissues and cells are also covered.
Scottish Government sources suggested the list, produced by Whitehall, appeared exhaustive, if not over-cautious, in its scope.
The Scottish, Welsh and UK governments all agree that some powers returned from Brussels might be exercised at a UK-wide level in new “framework agreements”.
However the devolved administrations believe the vast majority of returned powers should go to Edinburgh and Cardiff, not languish at Westminster, waiting for the UK Government to forward some them to Holyrood and the Welsh Assembly on as-yet unknown timetable.
Presenting the list to Holyrood’s European committee ahead of an appearance tomorrow, SNP Brexit minister Michael Russell said: “The Scottish Government is opposed to Brexit, in line with the overwhelming views of the people of Scotland.
"However, we must prepare for that eventuality, and in particular make sure that a functioning set of laws are in place after March 2019 when the UK is due to leave.
“We have said we are willing to co-operate with the UK Government but this cannot mean allowing Westminster to drive a coach and horses through the devolution settlement. At present that is what the EU (Withdrawal) Bill does. The UK Government will take control of all policy areas exercised at EU level, whether they are devolved or not.
“That is why the First Ministers of Scotland and Wales have described this bill as a naked power grab.
“We have made it repeatedly clear that we are not opposed in principle to UK-wide arrangements, but devolved policy areas must come back to the Scottish Parliament, where they properly lie, and then we can work towards an agreement.”
In a letter, Mr Russell told the committee the list was "an initial assessment by the UK Government of where it believes that EU competences intersect with devolution and which therefore would be affected by the restrictions in the Bill".
He went on: “We were taken aback by the size of the list that was presented to us, but it shows the scale of what is at stake.
“They represent control over agriculture, fisheries, environmental regulation, relations between Scotland’s independent legal system and our European counterparts, State Aid and many more.
“It is perfectly possible for UK-wide frameworks to be agreed, but they must not be imposed by the UK Government with no respect for the founding principles of the devolution settlement.”
Last week, Mr Russell said the Scottish Government was not prepared to support the key piece of UK Brexit legislation, the EU Withdrawal Bill, because of its impact on devolution.
The Bill, as drafted, would see all powers repatriated from Brussels go to Westminster at Brexit, even those in devolved areas, such as agriculture.
He said this “re-reserving” of devolved powers upends a founding principle of the 1997 devolution settlement - that all powers not explicitly reserved to Westminster are devolved by default.
If the UK government then pressed ahead with the legislation regardless, effectively imposing it on an unwilling Scottish Parliament, it would be constitutional crisis.
The deadline for changing the bill is the end of its final stage in the House of Lords in the New Year.
Mr Russell and Deputy First Minister John Swinney are due to meet Tory MSPs Jackson Carlaw and Adam Tomkins later this week to discuss possible compromises on the EU Bill.
The two ministers are also due to meet Mrs May's deputy Damian Green in London on Monday.
Mr Green, the First Secretary and effecutive deputy PM, said: "The lists which the UK Government shared with the Scottish and Welsh Governments several weeks ago contains 111 and 64 policy areas respectively that are currently controlled by the EU which are now coming back to the UK.
"We want to continue to work with the Scottish and Welsh Governments to make sure we are all ready to take on these new responsibilities when we leave the EU.
“The important thing now is to work our way through these lists and find the areas where we will need to maintain a common UK or GB approach, as well as those areas where it will make sense to transfer powers direct to the devolved governments.
"When it is better to devolve then that is what we will do, as we have done for the last 20 years.
"The Repeal Bill [sic] aims to maximise certainty for individuals and businesses as we leave the EU. The UK Government stands ready to listen to those who offer improvements to the Bill – but we will do nothing that risks undermining the benefits of the UK.
“Cardiff, Edinburgh and Belfast will receive more decision making powers as a result of this process.
"But the UK Government will not risk our internal UK market, or make life more difficult or more expensive for UK companies, workers or consumers. We all observe the same broad EU rules now.
"Doing things four different ways - in England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland - will not be the best way if it adds costs to companies and customers across the UK.
“I hope and expect that we can make progress in the talks that are planned for the coming week.'
The full list of powers returning from the EU that intersect with the devolution settlement in Scotland
1. Agricultural Support
2. Agriculture - Fertiliser Regulations
3. Agriculture - GMO Marketing & Cultivation
4. Agriculture - Organic Farming
5. Agriculture - Zootech
6. Animal Health and Traceability
7. Animal Welfare
8. Aviation Noise Management at Airports
9. Blood Safety and Quality
10.Carbon Capture & Storage
11.Chemicals regulation (including pesticides)
12.Civil judicial co-operation - jurisdiction and recognition & enforcement of judgments in civil & commercial matters (including B1 rules and related EU conventions)
13.Civil judicial co-operation - jurisdiction and recognition & enforcement of judgments instruments in family law (including BIIa, Maintenance and civil protection orders)
14.Civil judicial cooperation on service of documents and taking of evidence
15.Criminal offences minimum standards measures - Combating Child Sexual Exploitation Directive
16.Control of major accident hazards
17.Cross border mediation
18.Data sharing - (EU fingerprint database (EuroDac)
19.Data sharing - European Criminal Records Information System (ECRIS)
20.Data sharing - False and Authentic Documents Online (FADO)
21.Data sharing - passenger name records
22.Data sharing - Prüm framework
23.Data sharing - Schengen Information System (SIS II) 24.Efficiency in energy use 25.Elements of Reciprocal Healthcare
26.Elements of the Network and Information Security (NIS) Directive
27.Elements of Tobacco Regulation
28.Energy Performance of Buildings Directive
29.Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) Directive
30.Environmental law concerning energy planning consents
31.Environmental law concerning offshore oil & gas installations within territorial waters 32.Environmental quality - Air Quality
33.Environmental quality - Chemicals
34.Environmental quality - Flood Risk Management
35.Environmental quality - International timber trade (EUTR and FLEGT)
36.Environmental quality - Marine environment
37.Environmental quality - Natural Environment and Biodiversity
38.Environmental quality - Ozone depleting substances and F-gases
39.Environmental quality - Pesticides
40.Environmental quality - Spatial Data Infrastructure Standards
41.Environmental quality - Waste Packaging & Product Regulations
42.Environmental quality - Waste Producer Responsibility Regulations
43.Environmental quality - Water Quality
44.Environmental quality - Water Resources
45.Environmental quality - Biodiversity - access and benefit sharing of genetic resources
46.Equal Treatment Legislation
47.EU agencies - EU-LISA
48.EU agencies - Eurojust
49.EU agencies - Europol
50.EU Social Security Coordination
51.Fisheries Management & Support
52.Food and Feed Law
53.Food Compositional Standards
54.Food Geographical Indications (Protected Food Names)
55.Food Labelling
56.Forestry (domestic)
57.Free movement of healthcare (the right for EEA citizens to have their elective
procedure in another member state)
58.Genetically modified micro-organisms contained use
59.Good laboratory practice
60.Harbours
61.Hazardous Substances Planning
62.Heat metering and billing information
63.High Efficiency Cogeneration
64.Implementation of EU Emissions Trading System
65.Ionising radiation
66.Land use
67.Late payment (commercial transactions)
68.Legal aid in cross-border cases
69.Migrant Access to benefits
70.Minimum standards -housing & care: regulation of the use of animals
71.Minimum standards legislation - child sexual exploitation
72.Minimum standards legislation - cybercrime
73.Minimum standards legislation - football disorder
74.Minimum standards legislation - human trafficking
75.Mutual recognition of professional qualifications
76.Mutual recognition of criminal court judgments measures & cross border cooperation -
European Protection Order, Prisoner Transfer Framework Directive, European
Supervision Directive, Compensation to Crime Victims Directive
77.Nutrition health claims, composition and labelling
78.Onshore hydrocarbons licensing
79.Organs
80.Plant Health, Seeds and Propagating Material
81.Practical cooperation in law enforcement - Asset Recovery Offices
82.Practical cooperation in law enforcement - European Investigation Order
83.Practical cooperation in law enforcement - Joint Action on Organised Crime
84.Practical cooperation in law enforcement - Joint investigation teams
85.Practical cooperation in law enforcement - mutual legal assistance
86.Practical cooperation in law enforcement - mutual recognition of asset freezing orders
87.Practical cooperation in law enforcement - mutual recognition of confiscation orders
88.Practical cooperation in law enforcement - Schengen Article 40
89.Practical cooperation in law enforcement - Swedish initiative
90.Practical cooperation in law enforcement - European judicial network
91.Practical cooperation in law enforcement - implementation of European Arrest
Warrant
92.Procedural rights (criminal cases) - minimum standards measures
93.Provision of legal services
94.Provision in the 1995 Data Protection Directive (soon to be replaced by the General
Data Protection Regulation) that allows for more than one supervisory authority in
each member state
95.Public sector procurement
96.Public health (serious cross-border threats to health)
97.Radioactive Source Notifications – Trans-frontier shipments
98.Radioactive waste treatment and disposal
99.Rail franchising rules
100.Rail markets and operator licensing
101.Recognition of insolvency proceedings in EU Member States
102.Renewable Energy Directive
103.Rules on applicable law in civil & commercial cross border claims
104.Sentencing - taking convictions into account
105.State Aid
106.Statistics
107.Strategic Environmental Assessment (SEA) Directive
108.Tissues and cells
109.Uniform fast-track procedures for certain civil and commercial claims (uncontested
debts, small claims)
110.Victims rights measures (criminal cases)
111.Voting rights and candidacy rules for EU citizens in local government elections
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