Matrix’s Legal Support Service provides a weekly round-up of Brexit-related links and news.

Brexit and the UK constitution

1. The Commons Public Accounts Select Committee examined DExEU, making a number of recommendations, noting that the department “has not been quick enough to move departments beyond planning for Brexit and on to getting things done.” Politics.co.uk reports on the activities of DExEU outlined in the report.
2. In a blow to a cross-party group of seven Scottish politicians seeking a reference to the Court of Justice of the European Union, the Scottish Court of Session ruled that that the question of whether article 50 could be withdrawn unilaterally was “hypothetical and academic”. The decision of the Outer House is here.

The UK’s post-Brexit deal with the EU

1. Downing Street has moved to quell dissent on the Tory backbenches by insisting the UK will “categorically” be leaving the EU Customs Union after Brexit. However, The Guardian reports that UK negotiators have been warned that the EU draft withdrawal agreement will stipulate that Northern Ireland will, in effect, remain in the Customs Union and Single Market after Brexit to avoid a hard border. The Position paper Transitional Arrangements in the Withdrawal Agreement is available here. Aaron Nelson, from Bircham Dyson Bell, comments here.
2. EU Brexit negotiator Michel Barnier has reportedly said that a transition period immediately after Brexit in 2019 is “not a given“. He outlined continuing disagreements between the UK and EU over issues like freedom of movement during the period. The CJEU has been asked to decide whether British nationals should be able to keep their EU citizenship after Brexit. British nationals living the Netherlands had taken a case to the Amsterdam district court arguing that they should not be stripped of their EU citizenship. The district court referred the case to the CJEU.
3. The Guardian reports that “The immigration White Paper, which was originally scheduled to be published last summer, will not be released until after the transition deal is done”.
4. The House of Lords European Union Select Committee have published the report Brexit: competition and State aid.
5. The House of Lords’ Library have produced a research briefing, Proposed UK-EU Security Treaty.
   

Impact of Brexit on the economy

1. “A no-deal Brexit would blow an £80bn hole in the public finances, with the leave-voting heartlands of north-east England and West Midlands worst affected, according to new detail from the government’s own secret economic analysis”, says The Guardian.

Brexit as it affects Practice Areas:

Criminal

The House of Lords’ Library have produced a research briefing, Proposed UK-EU Security Treaty.

Competition and Regulatory

The House of Lords European Union Select Committee have published the report Brexit: competition and State aid.

Immigration

The CJEU has been asked to decide whether British nationals should be able to keep their EU citizenship after Brexit. British nationals living the Netherlands had taken a case to the Amsterdam district court arguing that they should not be stripped of their EU citizenship. The district court referred the case to the CJEU. Both The Independent and The Guardian covered this story.

The Guardian reports that “The immigration White Paper, which was originally scheduled to be published last summer, will not be released until after the transition deal is done”.