The Agreement on the withdrawal of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland from the European Union and the European Atomic Energy Community (the ‘Withdrawal Agreement’) was concluded by means of Council Decision (EU) 2020/1351 on 30 January 2020 and entered into force on 1 February 2020.

Pursuant to Article 171(1) of the Withdrawal Agreement, the Joint Committee established by Article 164 of the Withdrawal Agreement (‘the Joint Committee’) is to establish, no later than by the end of the transition period set under the Withdrawal Agreement, a list of 25 persons who are willing and able to serve as members of an arbitration panel. The Joint Committee is to ensure that the list complies with the requirements at any moment in time.

Pursuant to Article 171(2) of the Withdrawal Agreement, the list is to only comprise persons whose independence is beyond doubt, who possess the qualifications required for appointment to the highest judicial office in their respective countries or who are jurisconsults of recognised competence, and who possess specialised knowledge or experience of Union law and public international law. The list is not to comprise persons who are members, officials or other servants of the Union institutions, of the government of a Member State, or of the government of the United Kingdom.

The Union and the United Kingdom have jointly proposed five persons for the position of chairperson of the arbitration panel, and have each proposed ten persons for the position of member of the arbitration panel,

It is appropriate to establish the position to be taken on the Union’s behalf in the Joint Committee.

It is also appropriate to establish a reserve pool of experts who are willing and able to serve as arbitrators under the Withdrawal Agreement and who can be contacted in order to keep the list of 25 persons up to date from the Union side,