UK and EU leave Brexit behind and sign trade agreement

The European Union and the United Kingdom are signing this Wednesday the cooperation and trade agreement that was reached last week. Ursula Von der Leyen, President of the European Commission, and Charles Michel, President of the European Council, representing the European Union, signed this morning. On the other hand, Borris Johnson, the British Prime Minister will do so later from London.

"It is time to leave Brexit behind, our future is made in Europe" added Ursula Von der Leyen via social networks. "This agreement has been worth fighting for because we can have a fair and balanced agreement with the UK that will protect our European interests, ensure our fair competition and provide much-needed predictability over our fishing communities. At last, we can leave the Brexit behind and look to the future", the President added in the statement explaining the agreements that have been reached.

Michel Barnier, the European Commission's chief negotiator said "we have come to the end of an intensive four-year period, particularly the last nine months during which we negotiated with the United Kingdom the orderly exit of the EU and a new partnership that we have agreed today".

This nearly 1,300-page agreement consists of three essential pillars, a free trade agreement, a new partnership for the security of European citizens and a horizontal agreement on governance.

This is a new economic and social partnership with the United Kingdom. It covers investment, competition, state aid, fiscal transparency, road and air transport, energy and sustainability, fisheries, data protection, and social security coordination.

Both sides are committed to ensuring a strong playing field by maintaining high standards of defence in areas such as environmental protection and the fight against climate change.

The EU and the United Kingdom agreed on a new framework for the joint management of fish stocks in EU and UK waters. The UK will be able to continue to develop UK fishing activities.

As regards the coordination of social security, the agreement aims to guarantee a number of rights for EU and UK citizens.

It is a new framework for law enforcement and judicial cooperation in criminal and civil law matters. It develops new operational capabilities, taking into account the fact that the United Kingdom, as a non-EU state outside the Schengen area, will not have the same facilities as before.

This cooperation may be suspended if the United Kingdom fails to comply with its commitment to the continued observance of the European Convention on Human Rights and its national implementation.

The legal security of businesses, consumers and citizens will be taken into account in this area. It also establishes a Joint Association Council, which will ensure that the agreement is properly implemented and interpreted. This will also discuss any problems that may arise.

This means that EU and UK businesses compete on a level playing field and will avoid unfair or distorted subsidies. Both parties may retaliate across sectors in the event of violations of the agreement. This cross-sectoral retaliation applies to all areas of the economic partnership.