Part of 1. 1. Questions to the First Minister – in the Senedd at 2:03 pm on 21 March 2017.
Over the next two years, following the triggering of article 50, there is a golden opportunity to restructure the way in which decisions are taken across the UK. It’s no good waiting until that period of time has elapsed because then we will find ourselves in a situation where there’s no way of putting in place an alternative system. What does that mean? It means that the JMC should evolve into a proper council of Ministers where joint decisions are taken, where that is appropriate, in areas that are devolved. It may well be that there is merit in having a general framework with regard to agriculture, or indeed fisheries, as long as it’s agreed. We know that, when the UK leaves the EU, there is the distinct possibility that state aid rules will no longer apply, in which case we’ll have a free-for-all inside the internal single market of the UK. I’ve mentioned the term ‘trade law’. I think that’s perfectly possible. There was a trade law between Ireland and the UK in the 1930s. It’s in no-one’s interest for that to happen. The alternative to that is to put together a set of rules in the UK, agreed by the four UK Governments and, importantly, an independent adjudication body that polices those rules—a court. The European Court of Justice performs that function in the European single market; the US Supreme Court performs that function in terms of inter-state commerce in the US. An internal single market without agreed rules and a method of policing those rules is not a proper internal single market. I want to see that internal single market work properly.