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...

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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...

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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...

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On 1 January 2021, the United Kingdom will leave the EU Single Market and Customs Union, and all EU policies. This was its choice. As a result, it will lose all the rights and benefits it had as an EU Member State, and will no longer be covered by the EU’s international agreements. This will bring far-reaching changes, affecting citizens, businesses, public administrations and stakeholders in both the EU and the UK. To limit the disruption insofar as possible,...

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Madame President, Ladies and Gentlemen, Thank you for this new opportunity to take stock of this very long and extraordinary negotiation that I have the honor to lead on behalf of the Commission and on your behalf for more than four years now. Together, with your Parliament and the Council, we have already succeeded in enabling an orderly withdrawal of the United Kingdom, as it wished. It is for this withdrawal agreement that Maroš Šefčovič has just spoken of,...

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