Theresa May accused of 'climbdown' over European Court of Justice after conceding it will have post-Brexit role
3 min read
Theresa May has been accused of performing a "climbdown" on her plans to remove the European Court of Justice's role in UK life after Brexit.
The latest document setting out Britain's position ahead of the next round of negotiations with Brussels said they wanted to end "the direct jurisdiction" of the ECJ.
That has been interpreted as an admission by the Government that the court will continue to have some influence over UK affairs in the future.
Government officials insisted that the UK "will take back control of its laws" once it leaves the European Union.
But Lib Dem leader Vince Cable said the apparent change of tone showed the Government now realised it had to accept the court's role in order to safeguard trade and security.
He said: "We welcome this sensible and long overdue climbdown by the Prime Minister. It shows Theresa May’s red lines are becoming more blurred by the day.
"The Government seems to have belatedly accepted it won’t be possible to end the EU court's influence in the UK without damaging our free trade and security cooperation with Europe.
"The European Court of Justice has served Britain's interests well, protecting the rights of UK holidaymakers, consumers and businesses. We should build on this progress instead of allowing it to be trashed by the hardline Brexiteeers in the Conservative party."
Labour MP Chuka Umunna MP, a supporter of the pro-EU Open Britain group, said the Prime Minister was "shifting the goalposts".
He said: "Ministers consistently defend their decision to pull us out of the single market because of their self-imposed red line on ending the jurisdiction of the European Court of Justice in Britain.
"But their sudden shifting of the goalposts to ending only the ‘direct’ jurisdiction of the ECJ suggests they are paving the way for some sort of climbdown.
"Nothing the Government says it wants to deliver from Brexit – be it on trade, citizens’ rights, or judicial cooperation – can be achieved without a dispute resolution system involving some role for European judges.
"Despite what Leave campaigners claimed, ministers seem to be hinting that total judicial sovereignty is impossible. It appears that the Government realises that European judges will have some say over what happens in Britain, whether we are in the single market or not."
But a government spokesman insisted there was no change of position.
"We have long been clear that in leaving the EU we will bring an end to the direct jurisdiction of the Court of Justice of the European Union in the UK," he said.
"It is in the interests of both the UK and the EU, and of our citizens and businesses, that the rights and obligations agreed between us can be relied upon and enforced in appropriate ways. It is also in everyone’s interest that, where disputes arise between the UK and the EU on the application or interpretation of these obligations, those disputes can be resolved efficiently and effectively.
"This paper takes the next steps as we prepare to engage constructively to negotiate our approach to this."
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