Background

In March 2018, the External Affairs and Additional Legislation Committee published its report (PDF, 9MB) on Wales’ future relationship with Europe. This part one report focused on the view from Wales on the key elements that should form part of a future relationship between Wales and the EU. The report was debated in Plenary on 23 May 2018.

Part Two

At its meeting on 21 May 2018, the Committee agreed to undertake a Part Two inquiry focusing on which networks, relationships and institutions should be prioritised, and crucially how these relationships can be sustained in future.

The terms of reference for the inquiry are to:

• assess the Welsh Government’s approach to external affairs and identify best practice example from elsewhere in the world;
• examine how the Welsh Government should prioritise its future external relations with key European and/or international institutions, regions and networks, including the support it provides to trade associations and civil society;
• explore how third countries and sub state nations and regions engage with the EU and EU institutions, and the grounds for cooperation, in order to identify potential models that could be adopted by Wales after Brexit; and
• explore the National Assembly for Wales’ own relationships with European networks and institutions and make recommendations on how these can be taken forward after Brexit.

Evidence gathering

The Committee held oral evidence sessions to inform its work on the following dates:

• 9 July 2018
• 16 July 2018
• 1 October 2018

On Monday 22 October the Committee visited London to meet with a range of stakeholders to discuss Wales’ future relationship with Europe and the world.