This article summarises the provisions of new regulations which will affect the carriage of dangerous goods and the use of transportable pressure equipment at the end of the Brexit transition period. The House of Lords is due to debate the regulations on 29 September 2020.
Documents to download
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Replacing European Structural Funds in Wales after Brexit (223 KB, PDF)
The UK was allocated €10.6bn from the latest European Structural Funding cycle, which covers
2014–20. Wales was eligible to receive around £2.1bn (€2.5bn) of this. The UK Government has committed to protecting the funding from this current cycle. When the UK leaves the EU, it will no longer be eligible for future funding. The 2019 Conservative Party manifesto stated that the Government will set up a UK Shared Prosperity Fund to ensure that the people of the UK do not lose out from the removal of EU funding.
European Structural Funds are divided into two funding streams:
- The European Regional Development Fund (ERDF), which aims to strengthen economic and social cohesion by correcting imbalances between its regions; and
- The European Social Fund (ESF), which supports jobs and workers across Europe.
According to the Wales Audit Office, Wales was allocated around £1.2bn (€1.4bn) from the ERDF and £800m (€936m) from the ESF in the 2014–20 cycle. This funding goes towards projects such as: connectivity and urban development; renewable energy and energy efficiency; youth employment and attainment; and technical assistance.
On 24 July 2018, the former Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, James Brokenshire, made a statement to the House of Commons which set out the Government’s plans to develop a UK Shared Prosperity Fund to replace European Structural Funds. In a debate in September 2019, the Minister for the Northern Powerhouse and Local Growth, Jake Berry, further stated that the UK Shared Prosperity Fund would respect the devolution settlement and that additional information would be given at the next comprehensive spending review, due to take place in 2020.
Some observers have raised questions over the method that may be used to allocate funding through the UK Shared Prosperity Fund. For example, the Institute for Fiscal Studies has argued that using the Barnett Formula, which is currently used by the Treasury to allocate funds to the devolved administrations, may result in a reduction of funding to Wales.
Documents to download
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Replacing European Structural Funds in Wales after Brexit (223 KB, PDF)
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The next round of UK-EU negotiations is due to start on 28 September 2020. The House of Lords is due to hold a take-note debate on the UK’s approach to negotiating the future relationship with the EU on 23 September 2020. This article gives an overview of the UK’s approach to its future relationship with the EU and the progress of negotiations so far.
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In May 2019, the House of Lords EU Committee published a report into the future of UK-EU surface transport links. Continuing disagreement between UK and EU negotiators over aspects of the future relationship in transport matters has helped put the brakes on progress in the current negotiations, with talks on the future of road haulage rights in particular reportedly at a standstill.
