What is in the agreement between the United Kingdom and the European Union?
What is in the agreement between the United Kingdom and the European Union?
After a long and long week of a final divorce, London and Brussels found common ground on Thursday, especially on fisheries, which avoids a "no deal"
The UK and the European Union reached a post-Brexit free trade agreement after bitter negotiations on Thursday.
The agreement, which was expected to be announced on Thursday morning but finally took place around 3:45 p.m., avoids a potentially devastating "no deal."
Without an agreement, relations between the UK and the EU would have returned to WHO standards, including quotas and tariffs.
This time, is it the right one? Santa Claus has therefore given Europe a post-Brexit trade deal that avoids a "no deal" a week before the deadline. After ten months of hard negotiations, the European Union and the United Kingdom have managed to reach a historic agreement on their future trading relationship.
At a press conference, Ursula von der Leyen, President of the European Commission, reacted to this historic agreement. It is a "good, balanced" and "fair" agreement for each party. She spoke of "not joy, but satisfaction and relief." The agreement "will ensure that we can finally leave Brexit behind," she added. For his part, Boris Johnsonsimply confirmed: "The agreement has been reached with the European Union."
What is in the agreement?
On the subject of fisheries, a stumbling block between the EU and London, an agreement was finally reached, which ensures "a reciprocal basis for access to water and resources, with a new distribution of quotas and fishing opportunities," barnier said. This agreement will require efforts, I know, but the EU will be there with European fishermen to accompany them, that is our commitment," he promised at a press conference.
Despite its low economic weight, the sector is of political and social importance to several Member States, including France, the Netherlands, Denmark and Ireland. But the British have made it a symbol of their sovereignty regained after the divorce. Negotiations focused on the sharing of some EUR 650 million of eu-caught products each year in British waters and the length of the adjustment period for European fishermen.
Other previously problematic issues - how to resolve disputes and measures to protect against unfair competition - have been resolved in recent days. Michel Barnier expressed two regrets: Britain's non-participation in Erasmus and the less freedom of movement within the Union.
What are the next steps?
This compromise between the European Commission and the United Kingdom will still have to be validated by the 27 Member States, which is expected to take several days, as well as by the British Parliament and the European Parliament. But it is expected that this treaty will enter into provisional application on 1 January, and that in a second phase the text of almost 2,000 pages, will be validated after the fact by the European Parliament. Remember that the United Kingdom left the European Union on 1 January 2020, but will leave the common market on 1 January 2021.
What does this agreement change?
With this agreement, negotiated by Michel Barnier on the European side and David Frost on the British side, the EU offers its former Member State unprecedented access without tariffs or quota to its huge market of 450 million consumers. Without a deal, the UK would have lost far more than Europe: the British export 47% of their products to the continent, while the EU sells only 8% of its goods across the Channel.
But this opening will be accompanied by strict conditions: companies across the Channel will have to comply with a number of evolutionary rules over time in environmental, labour and tax matters to avoid dumping. Guarantees should also exist for state aid. A mechanism should allow both parties to quickly activate counter-measures, such as tariffs, in the event of discrepancies over these standards.
Source:- Flash News and News Agencies