Less than a week before the end of the Brexit transition phase, the UK and the EU published their laboriously negotiated trade pact for the time after.
Boris Johnson / Picture: AFP
Both sides put the 1,250-page document online on their websites on Boxing Day (here is the link). The contract is intended to regulate issues relating to trade, cooperation between the police and the judiciary, and health insurance protection for travelers in emergencies. London and Brussels announced a breakthrough in talks on a joint trade pact on December 24th. At the turn of the year, the United Kingdom finally leaves the structures of the European Union after almost 40 years of membership. The worst consequences of the divorce are thus averted.
British Prime Minister Boris Johnson had previously recommended the treaty to his compatriots as a Christmas reading. He recommends reading the trade pact for anyone who wants to read something in this “drowsy moment after the Christmas meal”, he said in a video Christmas message broadcast on Twitter.
It is doubtful that Johnson read it himself. Because the prime minister said there would be no non-tariff trade barriers. This is exactly what companies on both sides of the English Channel have to prepare for within a few days. This means, for example, different standards for product safety and food safety. The rules are still the same on both sides, but British companies will still have to prove compliance with European standards in the future.
No duties, but proof
From January 2021, customs formalities would also have to be complied with, emphasized Germany Trade and Invest (GTAI), a state-owned company that provides information on foreign markets, among other things. Since Great Britain is leaving the internal market and the customs union, a new customs border will actually come into force, said Stefanie Eich, customs expert at GTAI. In the case of goods from the EU destined for the British market, it must in future be proven that they actually come from the EU. “The rules of origin for individual goods are laid down in the agreement. Compliance with these must be demonstrated accordingly,” said the expert.
On the European side, there is no longer enough time until December 31st to ratify the last-minute deal in time. Therefore, the contract can initially only be applied provisionally. However, this still needs the approval of the 27 EU countries. The EU ambassadors should vote on this in the coming days, a meeting is scheduled for Monday. The EU Parliament then has to review the agreement retrospectively in January. In London, on the other hand, Parliament is due to wave through a law on December 30th in a fast-track process to make the agreement effective. Since the opposition British Labor Party has announced that it will approve the deal, the vote in London is considered a formality.
“The right deal” for the UK
Prime Minister Johnson nevertheless tried over the holidays to bring the arch-conservative Brexiteers into line within their own ranks, who are threatening a rebellion. The contract was “the right deal for Great Britain,” he said according to the PA news agency in WhatsApp messages to his party friends. This will enable the country to keep its Brexit promises and regain control of its own borders, laws and funds. In addition, the agreement is a basis for a long-term, friendly relationship with the EU as a sovereign, equal partner.
According to British Minister of State Michael Gove, the trade pact enables Britain to have a “special relationship” with the EU. You can now leave the difficult and “sometimes ugly” Brexit process behind and embark on a new, more hopeful era, wrote Gove in a guest article in the “Times” (Saturday).
