European Parliament Approves Brexit Deal, But Uncertainty Remains.

Last week, the European Parliament voted to finally ratify the Trade Co-Operation Agreement between the UK and the European Union. This move will ensure that quota and tariff free trade in goods will remain in force across the region. However, the Trade and Co-operation Agreement (TCA) has been operating provisionally since January, and is not without significant stumbling blocks. The TCA covers EU-UK trade in goods, but not services, which is significant as the UK economy is dominated by services such as banking, insurance, advertising and legal advice. Under a separate protocol, goods arriving to Northern Ireland from Britain have to undergo EU customs checks (for compliance with the TCA and EU regulations), as Northern Ireland is still considered a part of the EU’s single market.

Despite the deal, obstacles to trade remain. For example, French fishermen have complained about restrictions imposed on them by British authorities, such as the refusal to issue fishing licenses, thereby preventing them from fishing in British waters. In response, the French government has threatened "reprisals" against the UK over these restrictions, which remain in force despite the TCA. France’s European Minister Clément Beaune said that "The United Kingdom is expecting quite a few authorizations from us for financial services. We won't give any for as long as we don't have guarantees on fishing and other issues." Therefore, the TCA is far from a final solution to the Brexit problem.

Praising the TCA when it was agreed in December, UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson said "we have taken back control of our laws and our destiny". He also said that the trade deal provided "stability to our new relationship with the EU as vital trading partners, close allies and sovereign equals". The UK's chief negotiator, Lord Frost, said the vote "brings certainty and allows us to focus on the future". However, other voices were less optimistic. The European parliament's Brexit co-ordinator Guy Verhofstadt described the deal as "a failure for both sides, but better than nothing". The German MEP David McAllister also said Brexit "will always be a lose-lose situation."

After nearly four years of difficult negotiations on the post-Brexit relationship, it is not surprising that things are yet to become straightforward in the EU-Britain divorce. Trade volumes between the UK and EU fell sharply in January before rebounding in February. However, UK exports to the EU were still down by 17.2% in February 2021 compared to an average taken from February 2018 to 2020.

Brexit has also affected the free movement of citizens between the UK and EU. Under the current TCA, business travelers and tourists do not need a visa for short trips, but artists and performers, as well as workers, are not visa exempt. The rights of citizens of the UK and EU currently living as non-citizens in both territories has been clarified under the TCA, however, such groups of people face impending deadlines to normalize their residency status. EU citizens currently living in the UK have until June 30th to apply for residency, after which they will not be permitted to maintain their resident status.

(The above information was sourced from the BBC at this link).