EU national parliaments won't get Brexit trade deal veto after new ECJ ruling

The European Court of Justice agreed that the EU had powers to sign a wider range of agreements

The European Court of Justice in Luxembourg (Rex)

The European Union’s 27 remaining national parliaments are unlikely to have the power of veto over a future Brexit trade deal with Britain, a new court judgment has indicated.

Ruling on an investment and trade deal between the EU and Singapore, the European Court of Justice (ECJ) said the EU maintains “exclusive competence” over areas ranging from foreign investment to intellectual property rights and environmental standards.

The ruling, which strips national parliaments of their assumed say on large parts of trade deals, could mean there are fewer chances for EU member states to hold up a trade deal between the EU and UK.

The European Commission has said it wants to settle the Article 50 Brexit deal and separation terms before doing a trade deal, which would govern the relationship going into the future.

The case went to the ECJ after the commission asked the court to test its authority on negotiating trade deals with Singapore.

Judges said that ratification is still required by national parliaments in specific areas such as investment and dispute resolution, but the ruling gives the commission a freer hand to negotiate than had previously been expected.

Business groups welcomed the ruling and said the centralisation of decision making could help Britain secure a better trade deal more quickly.

“This ruling will likely make it easier for the EU to conclude trade deals without fear of as many hold-ups from national and sub-national legislatures,” said Allie Renison, head of EU and trade policy at the Institute of Directors.

“While the court confirmed that member states do have a role over aspects of investment, it parted with the earlier advocate general’s opinion on a raft of important policy areas such as transport, labour and environmental standards, which it said are reserved for the EU executive when negotiating free trade agreements.”

She continued: “This may mean a separation between trade and investment in future agreements. How this affects Brexit negotiations will depend on whether the final trade agreement includes investment provisions or not, although neither the UK or EU has expressed much interest in this to date.”

The EU has 34 trade agreements covering 60 different countries.