While he was confident that existing equivalence provisions could be maintained, he conceded that this might make obtaining equivalence more difficult in connection to any future EU directives.
‘Lap of the gods’
Professor Alastair Sutton, giving evidence from UK barrister chambers Brick Court Chambers, said that legally there was no reason why existing equivalence arrangements could not be maintained, but added that it was not clear whether equivalence had been granted to the crown dependencies and overseas territories because of their links to the UK as a member state.
In his view, the EU would only grant equivalence “because it is in the EU’s interest to permit the free flow of capital from Jersey, Guernsey and the Isle of Man into EU markets. I am afraid there are some grey zones where we do not quite know what the outcome will be. It is in the lap of the gods”.
Forced to choose
Professor St John Bates, from St John Bates Consultancy, said that the crown dependencies might be forced to choose between equivalence with the UK and with the EU.
This would require “a bit of political as well as legal sophistication – probably more political than legal sophistication. Once you have decided what you are going to do, it is fairly easy to achieve the equivalence”.
Welcome report
Following the release of the report, St Pier “welcomed the recognition that the UK government must continue to fulfil its constitutional obligations to represent the interests of the crown dependencies in international relations”.
“This, along with the call to involve the islands in the negotiations that will follow the triggering of Article 50, will help ensure that the exit agreement and any new arrangements will take into account the impact on the crown dependencies.
‘The committee has also reinforced our objectives to maintain the constitutional relationship with the crown and close economic relationship with the UK, to retain the benefits of Protocol 3 and to develop our international identities to help build new trading relationships,’ St Pier said.
His sentiments were echoed by Gorst, who said: “The government of Jersey has a positive working relationship with the UK ministry of justice, which has responsibility for the crown dependencies within Whitehall, and I have regular meetings with Robin Walker MP, minister at the department for exiting the European Union.
“The Lords report reinforces the importance of that dialogue and the impact it will have on the successful representation of Jersey’s position in the forthcoming Brexit negotiations as well as important opportunities for future trading arrangements.”
