The final Lords EU Committee report finds that the EU-UK Trade
and Cooperation Agreement (TCA), announced on Christmas Eve, was
agreed “in haste” and that significant “unfinished business”
remains.
However, the turbulent state of UK-EU relations underlines the
urgency to make the deal work. Both sides must solve the
outstanding issues together now.
TCA still not ratified
The committee expresses deep concern that the EU could still fail
to ratify the final Brexit deal, following breakdowns in trust on
both sides. In response to the UK’s extension of ‘grace periods’
under the Ireland/Northern Ireland Protocol, the European
Parliament has declined to set a date to vote on the TCA. As a
result, the possibility of ‘no deal’ remains, and the risks that
carries.
Governance of TCA not functioning
The committee finds that “the entire governance structure is in
abeyance”. The Government has decided that none of the TCA
governance bodies can meet until the deal is ratified. This means
that the UK-EU agreement, affecting the entire population of the
UK and the EU, is “being allowed to drift without the formal
governance arrangements having been activated”.
If the deal is ratified, the committee finds that significant
Government resources, will be needed to make the complex
governance structure work effectively, and recommends that the
Government look to simplify and rationalise it.
Mountain of unfinished business
The committee identifies a significant list unfinished business
not covered by the TCA, which needs addressing urgently. Issues
include data adequacy, regulatory cooperation on financial
services, and road haulage arrangements. The agreement also does
not apply to Gibraltar, which will be the subject of a new treaty
which has yet to be drafted.
Commenting on the report Committee Chair, , said:
“What is clear from the numerous items of unfinished business is
that the TCA is a starting point, not a final destination. To
progress, the political bickering needs to stop. Both sides must
approach the new relationship constructively, in good faith, and
with the aim of rebuilding lost trust.
“The TCA explicitly states its provisions shall be interpreted in
good faith and that both parties must refrain from any measures
that might undermine their fulfilment of those obligations. The
UK Government and the European Commission must reflect very
carefully on these commitments.
“We are concerned that the governance arrangements for the TCA
are in abeyance with so many matters of detail still to be
optimised. This structure is the forum for that, and we see no
justification for not getting this up and running during this
period when the rest of the TCA is provisionally applied.”
“We welcome the Parliamentary Partnership Assembly and its
creation of a structured approach for the inter-parliamentary
dimension of our relationship with the EU. We strongly regret
however that the TCA, the broadest international agreement that
the UK has ever entered into, wasn’t formally debated in
Parliament, given its complexity and importance.”
“I very much hope our committee reports this week will contribute
to a collective effort to ensure a productive, warm and stable
future relationship between the UK and our closest friends and
allies in Europe.”
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These findings come as the House of Lords EU Select Committee
publishes their final report as a committee on Monday 22 March.
The report is one of five published this coming week by the House
of Lords EU Select Committee and its sub-committees, which
analyse various aspects and provisions of the EU-UK Trade and
Cooperation Agreement.
Notes to
Editors
-
The full report from the EU Select
Committee will go live on the following link from 00:01hrs
Monday 22 March: Beyond
Brexit: the institutional
framework
