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Policy Developments

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International affairs

This page contains information on the activities that make up International Affairs.

This page has information on the policy developments we have been involved in contributing to. The Welsh Assembly Government is involved in contributing to European policy through various mechanisms.

EU policy is a non transferred matter with the UK government retaining formal responsibility and representing the UK at official EU meetings. However, the EU makes proposals in many areas which are devolved to Wales, such as agriculture, the environment, culture and regional policy so the Welsh Assembly Government works closely with the UK government to develop the “UK position” on such issues and ensure that Welsh views are included.

We do this through:

  • Consultation with the UK government and the devolved administrations on emerging EU policy.
  • formal Consultation responses, both directly to EU institutions and by feeding into a UK response
  • Policy events – in Wales and in Europe
  • Ministerial visits and inter-governmental dialogueI
  • Informal networking channels

In addition to the work EU Policy team does on EU legislation, we also work on a number of cross-cutting EU Policy areas which are of importance to Wales.  Current priority areas include:

  • Europe 2020
  • EU Budget
  • Cohesion Policy
  • Future Funding
  • Coordination of policy with the UK Government.

 As the UK government retains formal responsibility for EU policy an Memorandum of Understanding sets out the way in which the devolved administrations can feed their views into the UK’s policy and how we can take part in EU level meetings as part of UK delegations.

Scrutiny of EU Legislation and Policy

The UK Parliament scrutinises proposed EU policy and legislation. All legislation and anything which shapes the direction of future legislation (such as Commission Communications, Green Papers, Action Plans) and anything which is politically significant is deposited in Parliament for scrutiny by the Foreign and Commonwealth Office.

The European and External Affairs Committee of the National Assembly for Wales also examines EU proposals which have, or have the potential to have, an impact in Wales.

European & External Affairs Division (EEAD) makes every effort to ensure that it keeps the right people informed of all EU developments. You can help us by ensuring that you inform us if our contacts need updating or if you have an interest in a particular area.