To find out more about Parliament’s scrutiny of EU legislation, have a look at the webpages of the House of Commons European Scrutiny Select Committee and the House of Lords EU Select Committee. The Conference of Parliamentary Committees for Union Affairs of Parliaments of the European Union (COSAC) website also has details of meetings as well as copies of its bi-annual reports.

Scrutiny of Brexit

Since the 2015 Parliament there has been a select committee on Exiting the European Union (sometimes simply referred to as the Brexit Committee). Its membership combines not just the proportionality of political parties (in relation to their size in the House of Commons), but also a balance between those MPs who wished to leave the EU and those who wished to remain. You can see the full list of members here. 

Watch the House of Lords EU Committee quiz David Davis MP on the parliamentary scrutiny of Brexit negotiations in October 2017, or read the transcript of the evidence session here. 

The Institute for Government has produced several useful reports looking at this issue. See for example their report on select committee activity on Brexit and how these committees can provide effective scrutiny.

Parliamentary debates during the passage of the EU Withdrawal Bill (2017-19 session) show the key areas of concern from MPs and Peers about the scrutiny of the withdrawal process.  See for instance the debate on Backbench MP Dominic Grieve’s amendment, which was passed by the House of Commons and requires the final Brexit deal to be approved by a statute passed by Parliament. You can watch his speech here.