By John Bruton, former Prime Minister of Ireland (Taoiseach) & former EU Ambassador to the US | UK gained a little extra sovereignty of the island of Britain, by giving up some UK sovereignty in Northern Ireland The EU/UK trade deal maintains Ireland’s agricultural export market in Britain. A “No Deal” would have destroyed it. The imposition of tariffs would have imposed huge costsm on consumers and disruption to business. That said, the fact that the Agreement had to be rushed through...

EU-UK relations are changing following Brexit and the deal reached at the end of 2020. Find out what this means for you. The UK left the EU on 31 January 2020. There was a transition period during which the UK remained part of the Single market and Customs Union to allow for negotiations on the future relations. Following intense negotiations, an agreement on future EU-UK relations was concluded end of December 2020. Although it will be provisionally applied, it will still...

After intensive negotiations, the European Commission has reached today an agreement with the United Kingdom on the terms of its future cooperation with the European Union. President of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen said: “It was worth fighting for this deal because we now have a fair and balanced agreement with the UK, which will protect our European interests, ensure fair competition, and provide much needed predictability for our fishing communities. Finally, we can leave Brexit behind us and look to...

By John Bruton, former Taoiseach, Irish Prime Minister, and former EU Ambassador to the United States The Trade and Cooperation Agreement between the EU and the UK is an exercise in damage limitation. The UK will face numerous obstacles because of its decision to leave the EU, including leaving the Customs Union and Single Market. But it was in nobody’s interest to add to these obstacles. That was the spirit in which the EU approached the negotiation. The Agreement may run to...

NOTE: The Trade and Cooperation Agreement and other agreements below are provided for information only. No rights may be derived from them until the date of application. The numbering of the articles is provisional. The United Kingdom and the European Union have agreed a Trade and Cooperation Agreement, an Agreement on Nuclear Cooperation and an Agreement on Security Procedures for Exchanging and Protecting Classified Information. These Agreements are designed to honour the instruction of the British people – expressed in...