Aviation

The UK and EU begin negotiations over their future relationship this week. This paper outlines the UK and EU's objectives, the main issues of contention and the process being followed in the negotiations

In the UK, 297 million air passengers passed through UK airports in 2019.

This reading list brings together briefings on Brexit by the Parliamentary libraries and the Devolved Assembly research services with reports by Parliamentary and Devolved Assembly committees following the result of the EU Referendum on 23 June 2016.

A Westminster Hall debate on the ‘Civil Aviation Authority and aviation safety' has been scheduled for Thursday 6 February 2020 at 3pm. The debate has been initiated by Alistair Carmichael MP.

The Air Traffic Management and Unmanned Aircraft Bill [HL] 2019-20 was announced in the Queen’s Speech on 19 December 2019. It was introduced in the House of Lords on 9 January 2020 and Lords Second Reading took place on 27 January 2020..

A Westminster Hall debate on the ‘Net zero targets and decarbonising transport’ has been scheduled for Tuesday 4 February 2020 from 9.30-11.00am. The debate has been initiated by Damian Hinds MP.

After Boris Johnson became Prime Minister in July 2019 the Government intensified planning for a no-deal Brexit and stressed its intention to take the UK out of the EU on 31 October with or without a deal. But the UK remained in the EU after 31 October after a further extension of the Article 50 period was agreed with the EU. A no-deal Brexit however remains the default outcome if an agreement is not ratified. This briefing paper provides an overview of Government and EU preparations for a no-deal Brexit, and of recent reports analysing the possible impact of this outcome

At present, although road fuel is charged excise duty, which represents a substantial proportion of the pump price paid by motorists, aviation kerosene (AVTUR) which is used in jet engines is exempt from tax. 

The UK and EU agreed a revised Political Declaration on the framework for the future UK-EU relationship on 17 October. This Briefing provides an outline of the contents of the Declaration and the key changes in the revised text

The No-deal Brexit: A guide to Commons Library research is an annotated bibliography of sources published by the House of Commons Library on a potential no-deal Brexit. It will be updated regularly. Links to the papers included in the resource are available on this page, the downloadable version includes additional comment on some of the selected papers.

The EU has over a thousand international agreements with non-EU countries, covering trade, aviation, nuclear co-operation and other issues. These will cease to apply to the UK when it leaves the EU. The Government has identified 157 agreements with non-EU countries that it is seeking in order to replace these arrangements in the event of a no deal Brexit. Some agreements have already been concluded, but engagement is ongoing for most of these and some will not be in place by the scheduled Brexit day of 31 October.

How will Brexit impact the use of British passports in the EU and the introduction of new ones?

The EU and the other 27 Member States have been preparing for a possible no-deal, or 'disorderly', Brexit. The European Commission has had a no-deal preparedness plan which is now complete, and the EU27 have also been implementing their own preparations which will take effect if the UK leaves the EU without a withdrawal agreement at the end of October 2019. This paper looks at the EU preparedness programme and at some of the EU27 measures, particularly in the area of citizens' rights.

The UK is party to hundreds of international treaties with third states or organisations, many of them on trade, by virtue of its EU membership. To continue to benefit from the advantages of these agreements, the Government has been seeking to replace them in a UK bilateral context. The Government has prioritised trade agreements, but has also agreed replacement agreements covering aviation services and safety, and road transport, for example. But Parliament is not happy about the way the Government is carrying out this 'treaty continuity programme' and Committees in both Houses have called for a greater scrutiny role for Parliament in treaty-making processes. This paper looks at what has been going on and what Parliamentary Committees in both Houses have asked for. It includes a table showing where we are with scrutiny of these treaties and what sort of scrutiny they have undergone, both in their precursor form as EU treaties and currently as replacement treaties.