Both the UK and the European Union published the text of their Brexit trade agreement on Saturday morning. The agreement is around 1,250 pages long, plus agreements on nuclear power, civil nuclear energy, some confidential information and a number of joint declarations. The Brexit transition phase will end in five days and Great Britain will leave the structures of the EU for good.
Great Britain actually left the EU at the end of January and is only a member of the EU internal market and the customs union for a transitional period until December 31. At Christmas, after months of negotiations, an agreement was finally reached on a trade pact that should regulate relations between the two sides from January 2021 onwards.
The agreement provides for trade without tariffs or quotas. The treaty explicitly recognizes that trade and investment require a level playing field. With regard to financial services, both sides merely commit themselves to “creating a favorable climate for the development of trade and investment”. The text also contains many detailed appendices, including on the subjects of fish, the wine trade, medicines, chemicals and collaboration on safety data.
