Trade and Cooperation Agreement between the European Union and the United Kingdom

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_ United Kingdom (UK)
_ EU countries (as of February 1, 2020)
Trade and cooperation agreement between the European Union and the European Atomic Energy Community, on the one hand, and the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, on the other
Short title: Trade and Cooperation Agreement between the European Union and the United Kingdom
Title: EU – UK Trade and Cooperation Agreement (short title)
Date: Draft December 24, 2020
Come into effect: provisional entry into force from January 1, 2021
Reference: (Contract text, PDF file, in German)
Contract type: Commercial contract (mainly)
Legal matter: international law
Signing: December 30, 2020
Ratification : April 28, 2021
Please note the note on the current version of the contract .

The trade and cooperation agreement between the European Union and the United Kingdom ( EU - UK Trade and Cooperation Agreement ) is mainly a free trade agreement for goods and services between the United Kingdom and the European Union . It also contains numerous provisions on cooperation in other areas (such as law enforcement, justice, research, health and cyber technology). Separate agreements on cooperation on security issues and with EURATOM have also been concluded.

The agreement became necessary after the UK left the EU on January 31, 2020 in order to regulate the long-term relationship between the two sides. Previously, after years of negotiations, an exit agreement and a protocol on Northern Ireland had already been agreed, but the transition phase ended on December 31, 2020.

The agreement entered into provisional force on January 1, 2021 after the Presidents of the European Commission and the European Council signed the agreement and the UK Parliament passed the ratification law. The text of the contract was published in the Official Journal of the European Union on December 31st (with translation into 24 EU languages). The formal ratification of the agreement by the European Parliament took place on April 28, 2021.

background

The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland joined the European Economic Community (EEC) on January 1, 1973 . The EEC eventually developed into the European Union . In the 2016 EU membership referendum in the UK , a majority of just under 52% of voters voted for the UK to leave the EU.

After the UK left the EU on January 31, 2020, the Withdrawal Agreement included a transition period until the end of the year during which long-term relations between the UK and the European Union were to be renegotiated. This turned out to be very difficult, with the result that an agreement between the European Commission and the UK government was not reached until December 24th .

Since ratification by the EU member states and the European Parliament was no longer possible by the end of the year, a provisional application of the treaty from January 1, 2021, to which the governments of the EU member states had agreed, was agreed. Originally, the President of the EU Commission had promised the MEPs that they would be consulted before a provisional application, which was no longer possible given the lack of time.

On December 30, 2020, the British House of Commons approved the ratification law implementing the trade and cooperation agreement with a clear majority. The law was signed by the head of state Elizabeth II on the night of December 31st . Ursula von der Leyen and Charles Michel had previously signed the agreement as Presidents of the EU Commission and the European Council . However, the approval of the European Parliament and, in some cases, that of the national parliaments of the member states is still required. On the EU side, February 28, 2021 was originally expected, the EU Commission then applied for more time to ratify the trade and cooperation agreement in the second week of February.

Structure of the contract text

The table of contents is divided into seven parts:

  • Part 1 deals with general provisions for all parts and institutional regulations
  • Part 2 looks at trade and other economic aspects of the relationship, such as fishing, aviation, road transport and social security
  • Part 3 deals with law enforcement and judicial cooperation in criminal matters
  • Part 4 contains provisions on health and cybersecurity cooperation
  • Part 5 contains a list of EU programs in which the UK continues to participate (for the time being)
  • Part 6 regulates the procedure for settling disputes
  • Part 7 still contains final regulations

Numerous protocols and declarations from both sides were annexed to the main agreement . In addition, two other agreements were concluded:

  • The "Agreement between the UK and the EU on the security processes for the exchange and protection of secret information"
  • The "Agreement between the UK and Euratom on Cooperation in the Safe and Peaceful Uses of Nuclear Energy"

content

The compromise found includes:

  • There are no bilateral import duties on goods originating in the UK or the EU, and there are no quantitative restrictions on imports.
  • Import and export formalities will exist in the future, but should be made as simple as possible, especially for cars, medicines, chemicals and wine.
  • Particularly controversial, although actually of little economic importance, a transitional phase of five and a half years was agreed for the fisheries sector, during which the fishing rights for fishermen from the EU in British waters will be reduced by 25 percent; From June 2026, annual negotiations on the catch quotas will be held.
  • In the area of ​​financial services there are still questions that should be clarified in the coming months.
  • The United Kingdom is withdrawing from the Erasmus program , but continues to participate in five other EU programs (the Horizon Europe research program, the Euratom research and training program, the ITER nuclear fusion reactor project , the Copernicus earth observation system and the SST satellite monitoring system ), in return, must continue to participate in their financing.
  • In addition, the issues of investment, competition, state subsidies, tax transparency, air and road transport, energy and sustainability, data protection and coordination of social security are regulated, because the EU feared that previous standards would be undermined. But she had to give up her demand that Great Britain should also adopt future changes to EU standards.
  • The previous freedom of movement no longer applies. EU citizens will need a passport to enter the UK from October 2021. EU citizens who already live in the UK can still apply for a residence permit until June 30, 2021; Those who want to immigrate from January 1, 2021, on the other hand, must meet certain criteria, including an income threshold to prevent the immigration of low-skilled workers. At the turn of the year, the British lose the right to live and work in all countries of the European Union.
  • Among other things, a joint partnership council will be set up and binding enforcement and dispute settlement mechanisms will be established.

Cooperation in the areas of foreign policy, external security and defense is not part of the agreement as the UK did not want to negotiate on this.

Special regulations

Gibraltar

Gibraltar , which as a British overseas territory does not belong directly to the United Kingdom, was excluded from the treaty. It was not until the end of December 2020, shortly before the United Kingdom left the European single market , that Spain and the United Kingdom surprisingly agreed that Gibraltar would join the Schengen area on January 1, 2021 . The EU's external border will shift to the ports and the international airport of Gibraltar . Spain is responsible for controlling the external border of Gibraltar.

Northern Ireland

Due to the strong integration of Ireland's economy with Great Britain and Northern Ireland and because of the peace process with Northern Ireland , a customs border between Northern Ireland and Ireland would be fraught with major problems. On the other hand, an open border for the EU means an economic threat to the EU internal market, because Great Britain and especially third countries such as the USA can then bypass customs via an open Northern Irish-Irish border.

Trade conflict in 2021

At the beginning of 2021, among other things, because of the controversy over the de-facto export restrictions for SARS-CoV-2 vaccine doses manufactured in Great Britain by AstraZeneca , but also because of the still inadequate practical implementation of the complicated regulations for Northern Ireland , mutual accusations between the United Kingdom and the EU.

Web links

UK Government website:

EU website:

See also

Individual references and comments

  1. a b EU trade and cooperation agreement with the United Kingdom provisionally applicable from January 1, 2021 www.zoll.de, December 30, 2020.
  2. Von der Leyen and Michel sign the Brexit trade pact .
  3. ^ Trade and cooperation agreement between the European Union and the European Atomic Energy Community, of the one part, and the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, of the other part. December 24, 2020, accessed December 26, 2020 .
  4. EU-UK Trade and Cooperation Agreement: protecting European interests, ensuring fair competition, and continued cooperation in areas of mutual interest. In: Press release from the European Commission. December 24, 2020, accessed December 26, 2020 .
  5. a b c Draft EU-UK Security of Information Agreement .
  6. ^ Agreement on the withdrawal of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland from the European Union and the European Atomic Energy Community .
  7. The transition phase meant that the United Kingdom must in fact continue to be treated as part of the EU and that it adheres to all the rules. Only this part expired at the end of 2020, the remaining provisions of the Withdrawal Agreement and the Northern Ireland Protocol continue to apply.
  8. a b Queen Elizabeth puts British Brexit law into effect . Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung , December 31, 2020.
  9. Official Journal of the European Union, L 444/2020, Volume 63 eur-lex.europa.eu, December 31, 2020.
  10. Parliament formally approves EU-UK trade and cooperation agreement | News | European Parliament. April 28, 2021, accessed April 28, 2021 .
  11. EU-UK Trade and Cooperation Agreement: protecting European interests, ensuring fair competition, and continued cooperation in areas of mutual interest . December 24, 2020.
  12. Trade agreement published - 1246 pages of Brexit prose and the big question: is there a catch? In: Der Spiegel . December 26, 2020, accessed December 26, 2020 .
  13. Stephan Ueberbach: United Kingdom and Gibraltar European Union membership referendum trade pact: last minute deal. In: Online article of the Tagesschau (ARD) . December 24, 2020, accessed December 27, 2020 .
  14. Jon Stone: EU capitals race to study 1,200-page Brexit treaty before formally calling off no-deal. In: Online Article by the Independent . December 26, 2020, accessed December 27, 2020 .
  15. Von der Leyen and Michel sign post-Brexit agreement - British parliament votes .
  16. Brexit trade pact says: "This agreement will make history". In: Online article of the Frankfurter Allgemeine . December 24, 2020, accessed December 30, 2020 .
  17. EU wants the British to have more time to ratify the Brexit trade pact. In: reuters.com. February 10, 2021, accessed February 11, 2021 .
  18. UK-EU TRADE AND COOPERATION AGREEMENT - Summary. In: UK Government. December 24, 2020, accessed December 27, 2020 .
  19. ^ Draft EU-UK Trade and Cooperation Agreement .
  20. see Horizon 2020 and the successor program Horizon Europe and paragraph 165 of the summary "The additional detail on the individual programs the UK is intending to participate in ..." That is, the option is kept open, but it is not yet clear Whether Great Britain participates, see also UK will keep access to EU research programs, as trade deal is agreed. December 24, 2020, accessed December 27, 2020 .
  21. Joint declarations, draft version in English .
  22. Brexit trade pact: That's in the agreement .
  23. Brexit Deal: What the Agreement regulates. In: Online article in the Süddeutsche Zeitung . December 24, 2020, accessed December 30, 2020 .
  24. Press release of the EU Commission of December 24, 2020: EU-UK Trade and Cooperation Agreement: protecting European interests, ensuring fair competition, and continued cooperation in areas of mutual interest .
  25. Brexit: EU and Great Britain agree on trade agreements .
  26. ^ Agreement with Spain: Gibraltar joins the Schengen area. In: faz.net. FAZ, December 31, 2020, accessed on December 31, 2020 .
  27. ^ A b Allegations and demands: Crisis meeting on Northern Ireland. In: stuttgarter-nachrichten.de. February 11, 2021, accessed February 11, 2021 .
  28. Fact check: Has AstraZeneca deceived the EU? In: dw.com. January 26, 2021, accessed February 11, 2021 .
  29. EU to seek more time to ratify Brexit trade deal amid tensions with UK. In: theguardian.com. February 9, 2021, accessed February 11, 2021 .
  30. Dispute over the Northern Ireland Protocol: EU sees Brexit agreements in danger. In: n-tv.de. February 11, 2021, accessed February 11, 2021 .