Lord Wood:

I thank Lord Kinnoull. I have a couple of remarks on the excellent thoughts we have just heard from Deputies and Senators. Overall, one of the legitimate criticisms made of the UK as regards Brexit over the past two or three years is that we have done inadequate planning for a no-deal outcome again and again. This has partly been a negotiating ploy on the part of the Government. In no part of our relations with the rest of Europe and the world is the absence of no-deal planning more important than in respect of Ireland and Northern Ireland. Reluctantly, I believe we have to start thinking hard-headedly about arrangements for closer co-operation, as everyone has suggested, in the event of a very thin deal or no deal whatsoever. I totally agree with colleagues in Dublin who have spoken this morning about using the institutional network created under the Good Friday Agreement. This presents many opportunities for reinvigoration. I had not heard about it before, but I am very sympathetic to the idea of synchronising meetings with EU meetings. That would be a very good idea.

One of the issues with regard to trade between Northern Ireland and Great Britain which concerns me most - and it is something on which our committee has pushed the Government - is the question of exit summary declarations and what paperwork Northern Irish traders will have to deal with when dealing with Great Britain and what regulations will apply. This has become a sort of lightning rod because it looks like a purely UK issue on one hand while, on the other hand, the EU's customs code requires documents to be completed. We asked Michael Gove about this a couple of weeks ago and he maintained that the Government's position is that no such declarations will be required. That is clearly contrary to the general view of what is required by the EU's code. I do not have really hard views on what must happen in this respect but, whether there is a deal or not, an intense network of institutions will be required to co-operate in policing such declarations, if they are required, and state aid. Lord Kerr raised the issue of policing or supervising adherence to rules. These will be matters of mutual interest for London and Dublin, as well as for everyone else in the EU. The sorts of institutional co-operation regarding these issues, which are very small but which could be incredibly destabilising if got wrong, about which we have been talking will be absolutely crucial, particularly in the first year or two. That is why the committee members' views on the strengthening of institutional relationships at all levels are so important.