Joint Ministerial Committee (EU Negotiations) communique: December 2018

A plenary meeting of the Joint Ministerial Committee was held today in Downing Street, chaired by the Prime Minister, Rt Hon Theresa May MP.

Attendees and apologies

From the UK Government

• The Prime Minister, Rt Hon Theresa May, MP
• The Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster, Rt Hon David Lidington MP
• The Secretary of State for Exiting the European Union, Rt Hon Stephen Barclay MP
• The Secretary of State for Scotland, Rt Hon David Mundell MP
• The Secretary of State for Wales, Rt Hon Alun Cairns MP
• The Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, Rt Hon Karen Bradley MP

From the Scottish Government

• The First Minister, Rt Hon Nicola Sturgeon MSP
• The Cabinet Secretary for Government Business and Constitutional Relations, Michael Russell MSP

From the Welsh Government

• The First Minister, Mark Drakeford AM
• Jeremy Miles AM, Counsel General Designate and Brexit Minister

David Sterling, Head of the Northern Ireland Civil Service attended the meeting in the continued absence of a Northern Ireland Executive.

Items and actions

The Prime Minister congratulated the First Minister of Wales on his appointment. The two principal agenda items at the meeting were exiting the European Union and the state of relations. Under the first item, the Prime Minister updated the First Ministers on negotiations with the European Union.  The Committee discussed next steps on the UK’s exit from the EU. Under the second item, the Committee noted progress on the review on intergovernmental relations and remitted further work to officials.