Treaty Scrutiny: The Role of Parliament in UK Trade Agreements

As a centre of excellence for innovative research on trade policy and its inclusiveness, we aim to equip the UK with the capability to formulate and implement a trade policy tailored to the needs of the whole of the UK, while recognising the importance of the multilateral trading system and the UK’s role within it. [...] In April 1924 the Foreign Affairs Minister, Arthur Ponsonby, used the occasion when moving the Second Reading of the Treaty of Peace (Turkey) Bill to make “a brief statement as to the intention of the Government with regard to the important question of the submission of Treaties to Parliament” with the intention to inaugurate a new custom and procedure. [...] It has both veto powers in respect of certain types of agreements (including FTAs) due to the requirement of a parliamentary consent vote37 and the right to be “immediately and fully informed at all stages of the procedure”, under Article 218 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union (TFEU).38 The consent vote has given the European Parliament a tool to force the Commission to better. [...] The main example of this having a negative impact was over the exchange of letters in May 2022 mentioned above, which worked better for the Lords than for the Commons.86 Some of the blame for this must fall on the former Chair of the ITC who did not sign the final exchange of letters, despite the fact that it made specific governmental commitments in respect of the ITC. [...] To some extent, however, the combativeness is a consequence of the political nature of the Commons.87 Unlike in the House of Lords (where the terms of the exchange of letters appears to have been observed by the Government), in the more political cut and thrust of the House of Commons the Government’s commitment to improve treaty scrutiny has not worked successfully.