Page 15 - Linkline Autumn 2016

Developing Ireland’s Response to Brexit
Tom Ferris
According to Article 50 of the Lisbon Treaty, if a Member State wishes to leave the EU, certain steps have to be taken. The key part of that article states that:
“A Member State which decides to withdraw shall notify the European Council of its intention. In the light of the guide- lines provided by the European Council, the Union shall ne- gotiate and conclude an agreement with that State, setting out the arrangements for its withdrawal, taking account of the framework for its future relationship with the Union. That agreement shall be negotiated in accordance with Article 218(3) of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union. It shall be concluded on behalf of the Union by the Council, acting by a qualified majority, after obtaining the consent of the European Parliament.”
As a first step, a Member State must notify its intentions to with- draw. Only then will the Union commence negotiations and set about concluding a withdrawal agreement with the Member State wishing to leave. The British Government has yet to notify the EU of the date that it wishes the process to start.
Ireland’s Response
The Irish Government’s plans to respond to Brexit were quickly announced. Following the results of the UK referendum (23 June), the Irish Government published its Contingency Frame- work listing key policy issues that require attention. It is available on the website of the Department of the Taoiseach.
As different responses will be required at the different stages of the Brexit discussion, the plan is presented in three stages:
Immediate priorities; Pre-negotiation priorities, and; Negotiation priorities.
On the resource front, the Government has appointed Mr John Calli- nan to the position of Second Secretary General in the Department of the Taoiseach. He will lead a new integrated division within the Department with responsibility for supporting the Taoiseach in his work on EU, Northern Ireland, British-Irish and International Affairs.
The appointment is part of a series of actions announced by the Taoiseach, which include strengthening of the EU policy role of the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade, as well as the strengthening of other key departments, agencies and overseas missions.
There are a number of existing structures, already in place, that will be used to manage responses to Brexit. They include;
The Cabinet Committee on EU Affairs and the Senior Officials Group that supports it;
The joint UK Permanent Secretaries/ Irish Secretaries General group and its North-South equivalent;
A senior official in every government department has already been identified to oversee the Brexit issue. All departments will now supplement this arrangement with a top management sub-committee specifically dealing with the implications of this development on their area of work;
Department of the Taoiseach chairs an Interdepartmental group of senior officials that has been meeting regularly to look specifically at the bilateral and national interests affected by the UK’s withdrawal from the EU. The work of this group will be scaled up and intensified;
A wider consultative group of stakeholders chaired by the Department of the Taoiseach comprising of key
business representative groups, Irish Congress of Trade Unions (ICTU) and NGOs has also been meeting for some months now. The work of this group will be scaled up and intensified;
The CharTered InsTITuTe of LogIsTICs & TransporT 15
BREXIT