The European Parliament has voted overwhelmingly to send MEPs to a new joint parliamentary assembly with the UK parliament.
The new assembly will be comprised of 70 members – 35 from the continent and 35 from the UK.
It will oversee and scrutinise UK-EU trade relations, and has the power to make formal recommendations to the UK government and European Commission.
The new body, which will host parliamentary debates, could be a flashpoint for disputes over the EU-UK trade relationship – which has been far from straightforward.
Depending on the composition of the UK delegation, it is likely to contain staunch Brexiteers, as well as passionate European federalists from the continent.
On Tuesday MEPs voted 686 votes in favour, 2 against and 4 abstentions to set up a so-called “standing delegation” to the assembly – effectively giving 35 MEPs a full-time brief analysing the UK.
The possibility of an assembly was established by the EU and UK’s trade and cooperation agreement – which governs the economic relationship between the country and the bloc.
It said that “the European Parliament and the Parliament of the United Kingdom may establish a Parliamentary Partnership Assembly consisting of Members of the European Parliament and of Members of the Parliament of the United Kingdom, as a forum to exchange views on the partnership”.
But the agreement has little to say about the specifics of the assembly’s, with barely a dozen lines dedicated to it in the treaty text.
Questions like when and where it will meet, and crucially who will sit on it, remain undecided.
The UK parliament and European Parliament have got as far as agreeing that it will consist of 70 members.
The European Parliament says it will draw up lists of names to attend in the coming weeks to be voted on at its next plenary meeting.
Asked about UK Parliament preparations for the assembly, a spokesperson for the House of Commons said discussions remained ongoing but that they were as yet unable to comment on specific details.
