by Louise Mclean
Boris Johnson unveiled the EU-UK Trade and Cooperation Agreement on 26th December 2020, which was signed on 30th December 2020, along with a new Bill called the European Union (Future Relationship) Act 2020, which was rushed through Parliament on that day and almost unanimously passed by 521 to 73 votes.
Finally, we then formally left the European Union on 31st December 2020 but quite honestly, it is a rather hollow victory, as although on the face of it we got back our sovereignty, we won little of what we voted for in 2016 and are still joined at the hip in many ways.
There a number of aspects of the EU-UK Trade and Cooperation Agreement (T&CA) which are unsatisfactory, such as fishing, Northern Ireland's status, the possible effect on trade deals with other countries, our services industry, taxation, funding the EU Defence Force, paying EU pensions until 2064, aspects of the European Arrest Warrant, the 19 new committees and four working groups, as well as still being part of the European Human Rights regime!
According to fishing experts, we have hardly regained any of our territorial waters or fish than we had previously. The deal on fishing will be phased in over five and a half years, with the EU fishermen allowed to continue fishing as before. During that time Britain will be allowed to catch twenty five per cent more fish.
In 2026 the quotas and rights to fish of EU fishermen will be renegotiated on an annual basis. If Britain wants to drop this agreement on fisheries, the EU would be able to slap tariffs on our fish and seafood exports. The new deal means we are deprived of new fishing stocks even after 2026 because we have agreed these will be shared and quotas will need to be updated on a multiannual basis. This deal hardly gives us back control of our 200 miles of territorial waters but at least we have left the EU Common Fisheries Policy.
Northern Ireland remains in the EU Single Market and Customs Union and is still bound by European Court of Justice legislation, as the TC&A did nothing to change the Northern Ireland Protocol. Instead of having a border between Northern Ireland and the Irish Republic, which would be logical, it is now between NI and Britain. Apparently since the beginning of January, there have already been many problems with trade from Britain to Northern Ireland, despite Michael Gove and Boris Johnson assuring us otherwise. Unfortunately the clauses in the Internal Market Bill, which would have safeguarded Northern Ireland, were dropped at the insistence of Brussels.
Many UK firms exporting to Northern Ireland are experiencing difficulties due to excessive paperwork and some are deciding not to bother. Products in lorries need customs declaration forms, some of which take 15-20 minutes to fill out, each different product needing a form. At the moment it looks like UK firms are not keen to invest in Northern Ireland. If reforms are not made, this and other complications, will have a crippling effect on businesses in NI. In this video, ex Brexit Party MEP Mr. Ben Habib, explains it well.
We have yet to find out whether this new trade bill will affect the sixty plus trade deals signed across the world because there are EU 'level playing field' provisions tied into the deal and in some cases the EU refuses to recognise Britain's regulatory systems as 'equivalent'. The EU may view our new trade deals with other countries as 'unfair competition' on their doorstep!
Britain's economy is predominantly (80%) a services economy. Very little is mentioned in the trade deal regarding this, except that we must not give other countries superior advantages over those we give the EU. Financial services in particular could be hit. Read the latest here, as it does not look good.
In addition, we are restricted from setting our own taxation system, which may undercut the EU, and give us any unfair advantage.
Deep in the new Agreement are plans for UK taxpayers to help fund the European Union's new EU Defence Force! Buried in the text of the Trade & Cooperation Agreement is a reference to Horizon Europe, with the cost to us over the next seven years as being 3.8 billion euros.
It has also been revealed that Theresa May agreed that Britain will be paying for EU pensions until 2064 to the tune of approximately10 billion euros, thanks to the fact that we are still bound by her Withdrawal Agreement signed in January 2020.
The EU/UK trade deal keeps us tied to many terms of the European Arrest Warrant, thereby subjugating us to the European Court of Justice in any dispute.
Another worrying aspect of the TC&A is there will be 19 new committees and four new working groups, where laws can be modified or adjusted and these could end up bringing us back into the EU by the back door, if not carefully monitored.
Also as we are still signed up to the European Convention on Human Rights, it makes it difficult to stop illegal migrants from crossing the Channel in small dinghies and these people have been continuing to arrive since 1st January 2021. Britain has signed up to 'give effect to the rights and freedoms of the ECHR' and if we are seen to violate this, the whole trade deal could be terminated. No doubt human rights lawyers will still be very busy!
However, at least there is one clause in the T&CA which says we can terminate it on 12 months' notice!
Below is a summary of the 'Star Chamber' of the European Research Group (ERG) of Parliament, written by their top lawyer MPs and Martin Howe QC. They conclude that we have in fact regained our sovereignty, however it will take many years to unpick all the EU law transposed into UK law, which still remains on the statute books.
It seems the EU is fairly happy with the EU/UK Trade & Cooperation Agreement and it has until its March plenary session to ratify it, yet our Parliament had only one day to debate and vote for the corresponding
European Union (Future Relationship) Act 2020! The fact that Brussels is pleased with this new trade deal, tells you why it is rather a rotten deal for Britain!
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