EU–UK Trade And Cooperation Agreement
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The EU–UK Trade and Cooperation Agreement (TCA) is a
free trade agreement A free trade agreement (FTA) or treaty is an agreement according to international law to form a free-trade area between the cooperating state (polity), states. There are two types of trade agreements: Bilateralism, bilateral and Multilateralism, m ...
signed on 30 December 2020, between the
European Union The European Union (EU) is a supranational union, supranational political union, political and economic union of Member state of the European Union, member states that are Geography of the European Union, located primarily in Europe. The u ...
(EU), the European Atomic Energy Community (Euratom), and the
United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Northwestern Europe, off the coast of European mainland, the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...
(UK). It provisionally applied from 1 January 2021, when the Brexit transition period ended, before formally entering into force on 1 May 2021, after the ratification processes on both sides were completed: the
UK Parliament The Parliament of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland is the supreme legislative body of the United Kingdom, and may also legislate for the Crown Dependencies and the British Overseas Territories. It meets at the Palace of ...
ratified on 30 December 2020; the
European Parliament The European Parliament (EP) is one of the two legislative bodies of the European Union and one of its seven institutions. Together with the Council of the European Union (known as the Council and informally as the Council of Ministers), it ...
and the
Council of the European Union The Council of the European Union, often referred to in the treaties and other official documents simply as the Council, and less formally known as the Council of Ministers, is the third of the seven institutions of the European Union (EU) a ...
ratified in late April 2021. The agreement, which governs the relationship between the EU and the UK after
Brexit Brexit (, a portmanteau of "Britain" and "Exit") was the Withdrawal from the European Union, withdrawal of the United Kingdom (UK) from the European Union (EU). Brexit officially took place at 23:00 GMT on 31 January 2020 (00:00 1 February ...
, was concluded after eight months of negotiations. It provides for
free trade Free trade is a trade policy that does not restrict imports or exports. In government, free trade is predominantly advocated by political parties that hold Economic liberalism, economically liberal positions, while economic nationalist politica ...
in goods and limited mutual
market access In international trade, market access refers to a company's ability to enter a foreign market by selling its goods and services in another country. Market access is not the same as free trade, because market access is normally subject to condition ...
in services, as well as for cooperation mechanisms in a range of policy areas, transitional provisions about EU access to UK fisheries, and UK participation in some EU programmes. Compared to the UK's previous status as an EU member state, on 1 January 2021 the following ended as they are not incorporated in the TCA or the
Brexit withdrawal agreement The Brexit withdrawal agreement, officially titled Agreement on the withdrawal of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland from the European Union and the European Atomic Energy Community, is a treaty between the European Uni ...
:
free movement of persons Freedom of movement, mobility rights, or the right to travel is a human rights concept encompassing the right of individuals to travel from place to place within the territory of a country,Jérémiee Gilbert, ''Nomadic Peoples and Human Rights'' ...
between the parties; UK membership in the
European Single Market The European single market, also known as the European internal market or the European common market, is the single market comprising mainly the member states of the European Union (EU). With certain exceptions, it also comprises Iceland, ...
and
Customs Union A customs union is generally defined as a type of trade bloc which is composed of a free trade area with a common external tariff.GATTArticle 24 s. 8 (a) Customs unions are established through trade pacts where the participant countries set u ...
; UK participation in most EU programmes; part of EU–UK law enforcement and security cooperation such as the access to real time crime data; defense and foreign policy cooperation; and the authority of the
European Court of Justice The European Court of Justice (ECJ), officially the Court of Justice (), is the supreme court of the European Union in matters of European Union law. As a part of the Court of Justice of the European Union, it is tasked with interpreting ...
in dispute settlement (except with respect to the Northern Ireland Protocol). In addition, two other separate treaties were negotiated, signed, and ratified in parallel around the same time by the UK and the EU/Euratom: an agreement on exchange of classified information and another on cooperation in the field of
nuclear energy Nuclear energy may refer to: *Nuclear power, the use of sustained nuclear fission or nuclear fusion to generate heat and electricity *Nuclear binding energy, the energy needed to fuse or split a nucleus of an atom *Nuclear potential energy, the pot ...
.


Background

The UK became a member of the
European Communities The European Communities (EC) were three international organizations that were governed by the same set of Institutions of the European Union, institutions. These were the European Coal and Steel Community (ECSC), the European Atomic Energy Co ...
in 1973, which later became the EU and Euratom. Since then, the UK contributed to making and was subject to
EU law European Union law is a system of Supranational union, supranational Law, laws operating within the 27 member states of the European Union (EU). It has grown over time since the 1952 founding of the European Coal and Steel Community, to promote ...
, whose application was governed by the
European Court of Justice The European Court of Justice (ECJ), officially the Court of Justice (), is the supreme court of the European Union in matters of European Union law. As a part of the Court of Justice of the European Union, it is tasked with interpreting ...
. After the UK decided in a 2016 referendum to leave the EU ("
Brexit Brexit (, a portmanteau of "Britain" and "Exit") was the Withdrawal from the European Union, withdrawal of the United Kingdom (UK) from the European Union (EU). Brexit officially took place at 23:00 GMT on 31 January 2020 (00:00 1 February ...
"), it did so on 31 January 2020. Until 31 December 2020, a transition period applied, in which the UK was still considered for most matters to be part of the EU. After the first negotiations between the UK and the EU led to the
Brexit withdrawal agreement The Brexit withdrawal agreement, officially titled Agreement on the withdrawal of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland from the European Union and the European Atomic Energy Community, is a treaty between the European Uni ...
that implemented the UK's withdrawal, negotiations commenced for an agreement to govern trade and other relations between the EU and the UK after the end of the transition period.


Negotiations

The UK government led by
Boris Johnson Alexander Boris de Pfeffel Johnson (born 19 June 1964) is a British politician and writer who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom and Leader of the Conservative Party (UK), Leader of the Conservative Party from 2019 to 2022. He wa ...
pursued a desire to trade freely with the EU while being subject to as few EU rules as possible, and especially not to the jurisdiction of the European Court of Justice. For its part, the EU insisted that the price for UK access to the
European Single Market The European single market, also known as the European internal market or the European common market, is the single market comprising mainly the member states of the European Union (EU). With certain exceptions, it also comprises Iceland, ...
was compliance with EU subsidies, social, environmental and other regulations to avoid distorting competition in the single market. Another major point of contention was
fisheries Fishery can mean either the enterprise of raising or harvesting fish and other aquatic life or, more commonly, the site where such enterprise takes place ( a.k.a., fishing grounds). Commercial fisheries include wild fisheries and fish farm ...
. Part of the impetus for Brexit was the British desire to regain full control over their fishing waters, whereas EU coastal states demanded to retain all or most of the fishing rights they enjoyed under the EU's
Common Fisheries Policy The Common Fisheries Policy (CFP) is the fishery, fisheries policy of the European Union (EU). It sets quotas for which Member state of the European Union, member states are allowed to catch each type of fish, as well as encouraging the fishin ...
. The trade agreement, negotiated under increasing time pressure due to the end of the transition period on 31 December 2020, had to address all of these issues. Formal trade negotiations, in which Michel Barnier represented the EU and
David Frost Sir David Paradine Frost (7 April 1939 – 31 August 2013) was an English television host, journalist, comedian and writer. He rose to prominence during the satire boom in the United Kingdom when he was chosen to host the satirical programme ...
represented the UK, began on 31 March 2020. They were originally due to be concluded by the end of October 2020. However, negotiations continued and formally ended on 24 December 2020 when an agreement was reached in principle after ten negotiating rounds.


Signature, ratification and entry into force


Signature

After approval by the
Council of the European Union The Council of the European Union, often referred to in the treaties and other official documents simply as the Council, and less formally known as the Council of Ministers, is the third of the seven institutions of the European Union (EU) a ...
on 29 December, the
President of the European Council The president of the European Council is the person presiding over and driving forward the work of the European Council on the world stage. This Institutions of the European Union, institution comprises the college of heads of state or governme ...
Charles Michel Charles Michel (; born 21 December 1975) is a Belgian politician who served as the president of the European Council from 2019 to 2024. He previously served as the Prime Minister of Belgium, prime minister of Belgium between 2014 and 2019. Miche ...
and the
President of the European Commission The president of the European Commission, also known as president of the College of Commissioners is the Head of government, head of the European Commission, the Executive (government), executive branch of the European Union (EU). The president ...
Ursula von der Leyen Ursula Gertrud von der Leyen (; ; born 8 October 1958) is a German politician, serving as president of the European Commission since 2019. She served in the Cabinet of Germany, German federal government between 2005 and 2019, holding position ...
signed the TCA on 30 December 2020 on behalf of the EU. The agreement was then flown to London and signed for the UK by the Prime Minister, Boris Johnson.


Ratification

The internal procedures of the UK and EU/Euratom had to be followed for ratification after signature. For the EU, this meant a decision by the
Council of the European Union The Council of the European Union, often referred to in the treaties and other official documents simply as the Council, and less formally known as the Council of Ministers, is the third of the seven institutions of the European Union (EU) a ...
after receiving the consent of the
European Parliament The European Parliament (EP) is one of the two legislative bodies of the European Union and one of its seven institutions. Together with the Council of the European Union (known as the Council and informally as the Council of Ministers), it ...
. As the TCA was not treated as a mixed agreement, no national ratification procedures were needed in the member states. For the UK, ratification is a
royal prerogative The royal prerogative is a body of customary authority, Privilege (law), privilege, and immunity recognised in common law (and sometimes in Civil law (legal system), civil law jurisdictions possessing a monarchy) as belonging to the monarch, so ...
, exercised in effect by the Government. For the agreement to have effect in UK domestic law and to enable the government to enter into the agreement, the enactment of the European Union (Future Relationship) Bill was required. The bill was introduced in Parliament on 30 December 2020 and provides for implementation of the TCA. The same day, the bill passed the
House of Commons The House of Commons is the name for the elected lower house of the Bicameralism, bicameral parliaments of the United Kingdom and Canada. In both of these countries, the Commons holds much more legislative power than the nominally upper house of ...
with 521 votes to 73, and was approved by the
House of Lords The House of Lords is the upper house of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. Like the lower house, the House of Commons of the United Kingdom, House of Commons, it meets in the Palace of Westminster in London, England. One of the oldest ext ...
. It became the European Union (Future Relationship) Act 2020 when it received
royal assent Royal assent is the method by which a monarch formally approves an act of the legislature, either directly or through an official acting on the monarch's behalf. In some jurisdictions, royal assent is equivalent to promulgation, while in othe ...
on 31 December 2020. On 4 March 2021, the European Parliament postponed its consent decision, which had been planned for 25 March. The EU accused the UK of proposing for a second time to break international law, after UK ministers announced the unilateral extension of the grace period on certain checks on trade from Great Britain to Northern Ireland. On 27 April, the European Parliament gave its consent to the agreement after a plenary vote (660 in favour, 5 against, 32 abstentions). The Council of the European Union approved the agreement by a decision on 29 April using a written procedure.


Versions

Agreement on the draft text of the TCA was only reached in late December 2020, while the parties planned provisional application on 1 January 2021. The parties therefore signed the draft text, of which the articles had not been continuously numbered and which was subject to legal revision before it could enter into force. The draft agreement was replaced by the definitive version of the agreement through an exchange of notes on 21 April 2021, and this version applies retroactively () from 1 January 2021.


Provisional application and entry into force

The agreement was provisionally applied from 1 January 2021 until its entry into force on 1 May 2021. The ultimate date for the end of the provisional application was extended from 28 February to 30 April 2021. The Council decision on the signing included the approval of provisional application, provided the UK also decided to provisionally apply the document. The agreement entered into force on the first day of the month after ratification by both parties (Article 783; Article FINPROV.11 in the draft), namely 1 May 2021.


Territorial scope

The agreement applies to the territory of the UK and to the EU. It does not apply to
Gibraltar Gibraltar ( , ) is a British Overseas Territories, British Overseas Territory and British overseas cities, city located at the southern tip of the Iberian Peninsula, on the Bay of Gibraltar, near the exit of the Mediterranean Sea into the A ...
, which was also part of the EU, but for which a separate negotiation is conducted between the UK, Spain and the EU. The agreement applies to the Isle of Man,
Bailiwick of Guernsey The Bailiwick of Guernsey (; Guernésiais: ''Bailliage dé Guernési'') is a self-governing British Crown Dependencies, Crown Dependency off the coast of Normandy, France, comprising several of the Channel Islands. It has a total land area of ...
and
Bailiwick of Jersey A bailiwick () is usually the area of jurisdiction of a bailiff, and once also applied to territories in which a privately appointed bailiff exercised the sheriff's functions under a royal or imperial writ. In English, the original French combi ...
(which gave their consent) with regard to trade in goods and fishing. With regard to
Northern Ireland Northern Ireland ( ; ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, part of the United Kingdom in the north-east of the island of Ireland. It has been #Descriptions, variously described as a country, province or region. Northern Ireland shares Repub ...
, the provisions on trade in goods do not apply, as those (as well as provisions on application of EU law in that area and involvement of the
European Court of Justice The European Court of Justice (ECJ), officially the Court of Justice (), is the supreme court of the European Union in matters of European Union law. As a part of the Court of Justice of the European Union, it is tasked with interpreting ...
) are governed by a protocol to the Brexit withdrawal agreement.


Contents

The 1,246-page agreement (including annexes) covers its general objectives and framework with detailed provisions for fisheries, social security, trade, transport, visas; and cooperation in judicial, law enforcement, and security matters. Other provisions include continued participation in community programmes and mechanisms for dispute resolution. () According to summaries of the agreement published by the European Commission and the UK government, the agreement provides for the following or has the following effects on the EU–UK relationship compared to when the UK was an EU member state. For Northern Ireland other arrangements may be in place through the Ireland/Northern Ireland Protocol.


Trade in goods

Trade in goods between the EU and UK shall not be subject to any
tariff A tariff or import tax is a duty (tax), duty imposed by a national Government, government, customs territory, or supranational union on imports of goods and is paid by the importer. Exceptionally, an export tax may be levied on exports of goods ...
s or quotas. Traders can self-certify compliance with agreed rules of origin. However, as a result of the UK leaving the EU customs area, customs formalities are required between the two parties, and VAT and certain other duties apply upon import. There are provisions intended to limit technical barriers to trade (TBT), building on the WTO TBT Agreement.


Trade in services

Building on WTO rules, each party is to treat service providers of the other party no less favourably than its own. There are rules to facilitate the cross-border provision of services in certain fields, such as digital services (including as regards
data protection Data protection may refer to: * Information privacy, also known as data privacy * Data security {{Authority control ...
rules),
public procurement Government procurement or public procurement is the purchase of goods, works (construction) or services by the state, such as by a government agency or a state-owned enterprise. In 2019, public procurement accounted for approximately 12% of GDP ...
(extending the coverage of the WTO GPA somewhat), business trips and secondments of highly qualified employees. But there is no longer general access to each other's services markets; for example,
financial services Financial services are service (economics), economic services tied to finance provided by financial institutions. Financial services encompass a broad range of tertiary sector of the economy, service sector activities, especially as concerns finan ...
providers no longer have access to customers via "passporting". Professional qualifications are no longer automatically mutually recognized.


Energy, public policy and other aspects of trade

With respect to energy, there is to be regulatory and technical cooperation, as well as a reconfirmation of the
Paris Agreement The Paris Agreement (also called the Paris Accords or Paris Climate Accords) is an international treaty on climate change that was signed in 2016. The treaty covers climate change mitigation, adaptation, and finance. The Paris Agreement was ...
climate goals. But the UK is no longer part of the EU energy market and
emissions trading Emissions trading is a market-oriented approach to controlling pollution by providing economic incentives for reducing the emissions of pollutants. The concept is also known as cap and trade (CAT) or emissions trading scheme (ETS). One prominen ...
scheme. The UK has concluded a separate agreement with Euratom on peaceful cooperation on nuclear technology, which has not entered into force. While both parties remain free to shape their
public policy Public policy is an institutionalized proposal or a Group decision-making, decided set of elements like laws, regulations, guidelines, and actions to Problem solving, solve or address relevant and problematic social issues, guided by a conceptio ...
in the fields of
subsidies A subsidy, subvention or government incentive is a type of government expenditure for individuals and households, as well as businesses with the aim of stabilizing the economy. It ensures that individuals and households are viable by having acce ...
, labour and
social policy Some professionals and universities consider social policy a subset of public policy, while other practitioners characterize social policy and public policy to be two separate, competing approaches for the same public interest (similar to MD a ...
, or climate and environment policy, the agreement provides for " level playing field" principles and mechanisms that aim to prevent a distortion of trade as a result of measures in these fields. In particular, each party may take countermeasures (subject to arbitration) against damaging measures by the other party. Certain existing
intellectual property Intellectual property (IP) is a category of property that includes intangible creations of the human intellect. There are many types of intellectual property, and some countries recognize more than others. The best-known types are patents, co ...
provisions exceeding
TRIPS Trip may refer to: Arts and entertainment Books Fictional characters * Trip (''Pokémon''), a ''Pokémon'' character * Trip (Power Rangers), in the American television series ''Time Force Power Rangers'' * Trip, in the 2013 film '' Metallica T ...
commitments (including a 70-year
copyright term The copyright term is the length of time copyright subsists in a work before it passes into the public domain. In most of the world, this length of time is the life of the author plus either 50 or 70 years https://w.wiki/ETPJ. Length of copyright ...
) are to be preserved in the EU and the UK. There are agreed rules on
geographical indication A geographical indication (GI) is a name or sign used on products which corresponds to a specific geographical location or origin (e.g., a town or region). The use of a geographical indication, as an indication of the product's source, is inten ...
s existing before
Brexit Brexit (, a portmanteau of "Britain" and "Exit") was the Withdrawal from the European Union, withdrawal of the United Kingdom (UK) from the European Union (EU). Brexit officially took place at 23:00 GMT on 31 January 2020 (00:00 1 February ...
which are confirmed in the TCA (Article IP.57), but not for Indications registered afterwards, except for Northern Ireland.


Movement of persons

There is no
free movement of persons Freedom of movement, mobility rights, or the right to travel is a human rights concept encompassing the right of individuals to travel from place to place within the territory of a country,Jérémiee Gilbert, ''Nomadic Peoples and Human Rights'' ...
between the EU and the UK. Visitors planning stays of more than 90 days in any 180-day period need a visa; those planning any work other than routine business meetings and conferences need an appropriate visa. There is coordination of some
social security Welfare spending is a type of government support intended to ensure that members of a society can meet basic human needs such as food and shelter. Social security may either be synonymous with welfare, or refer specifically to social insurance ...
benefits.


Aviation and road transport

In
aviation Aviation includes the activities surrounding mechanical flight and the aircraft industry. ''Aircraft'' include fixed-wing and rotary-wing types, morphable wings, wing-less lifting bodies, as well as lighter-than-air aircraft such as h ...
, EU and UK carriers continue to enjoy access to point-to-point traffic between EU and UK airports ( third and fourth freedoms of the air). But they no longer have access to each other's aviation markets otherwise, including with respect to domestic flights or flights connecting to other countries. The UK is free to negotiate " fifth freedom traffic rights" for cargo flights (e.g. the London–Paris–Barcelona route for a UK carrier) with the member states of the EU individually. There is cooperation on aviation safety, but the UK no longer participates in
EASA The European Union Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) is an agency of the European Commission with responsibility for civil aviation safety in the European Union. It carries out certification, regulation and standardisation and also performs inve ...
. Likewise, in
road transport Road transport or road transportation is a type of transport using roads. Transport on roads can be roughly grouped into the transportation of goods and transportation of people. In many countries licensing requirements and safety regulations e ...
, mutual market access for passenger transport is limited to point-to-point crossborder transports, whereas for the transport of goods up to two extra movements (cabotage) in the other party's territory are permitted.


Fisheries

The UK left the EU
Common Fisheries Policy The Common Fisheries Policy (CFP) is the fishery, fisheries policy of the European Union (EU). It sets quotas for which Member state of the European Union, member states are allowed to catch each type of fish, as well as encouraging the fishin ...
. During the transitional period of years, EU fishing quotas in UK waters were gradually reduced to 75% of their pre-Brexit extent. The shares of fish the parties are allowed to catch in each other's waters are now negotiated annually.


Cooperation and UK participation in EU programmes

In the field of security, the UK no longer participates in the EU security agencies and no longer has access to the Schengen Information System SIS II database. But UK cooperation continues with
Europol Europol, officially the European Union Agency for Law Enforcement Cooperation, is the law enforcement agency of the European Union (EU). Established in 1998, it is based in The Hague, Netherlands, and serves as the central hub for coordinating c ...
and Eurojust, and there are mechanisms for the exchange of certain security-relevant data, such as
passenger name record A passenger name record (PNR) is a record in the database of a computer reservation system (CRS) that contains the itinerary for a passenger or a group of passengers travelling together. The concept of a PNR was first introduced by airlines that ...
s, Prüm Convention data (DNA, fingerprints, vehicle registrations) and criminal records. The UK no longer participates in EU development funding programmes. It continues to participate in five technical EU programmes: *
Horizon Europe Horizon Europe is a seven-year European Union scientific research initiative to help develop a sustainable and livable society in Europe. It is the ninth of the Framework Programmes for Research and Technological Development (FP9), and the succe ...
* Euratom research and training *
ITER ITER (initially the International Thermonuclear Experimental Reactor, ''iter'' meaning "the way" or "the path" in Latin) is an international nuclear fusion research and engineering megaproject aimed at creating energy through a fusion process s ...
*
Copernicus Nicolaus Copernicus (19 February 1473 – 24 May 1543) was a Renaissance polymath who formulated a mathematical model, model of Celestial spheres#Renaissance, the universe that placed heliocentrism, the Sun rather than Earth at its cen ...
* Satellite surveillance (partly). One of the programmes that the UK does not participate in, is the
Erasmus Desiderius Erasmus Roterodamus ( ; ; 28 October c. 1466 – 12 July 1536), commonly known in English as Erasmus of Rotterdam or simply Erasmus, was a Dutch Christian humanist, Catholic priest and Catholic theology, theologian, educationalist ...
student exchange programme.


Institutional provisions and dispute settlement

The agreement establishes a Partnership Council, made up of EU and UK representatives. Operating by mutual consent, it is authorized to administer the agreement, resolve disputes through negotiation and modify certain parts of the agreement if necessary. The Partnership Council also will take this role in supplementing agreements between the EU and the UK, unless agreed otherwise (Articles COMPROV 2 and Inst 1.2) When disagreements between the parties cannot be resolved through consultation, either party may submit the dispute to an independent
arbitration Arbitration is a formal method of dispute resolution involving a third party neutral who makes a binding decision. The third party neutral (the 'arbitrator', 'arbiter' or 'arbitral tribunal') renders the decision in the form of an 'arbitrati ...
panel. If that panel finds that one party has breached its obligations, the other party may suspend (part of) its own obligations under the agreement. The agreement excludes any role of UK or EU courts, including the
European Court of Justice The European Court of Justice (ECJ), officially the Court of Justice (), is the supreme court of the European Union in matters of European Union law. As a part of the Court of Justice of the European Union, it is tasked with interpreting ...
, in dispute settlement between the EU and the UK.


Reactions


In the EU

The President of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, called the TCA "a fair and balanced agreement" that would allow Europe "to leave Brexit behind us and look to the future." The President of the European Council, Charles Michel, said that the TCA "fully protects the fundamental interests of the European Union and creates stability and predictability for citizens and companies." The former Taoiseach of Ireland,
John Bruton John Gerard Bruton (18 May 1947 – 6 February 2024) was an Irish Fine Gael politician who served as Taoiseach from 1994 to 1997 and Leader of Fine Gael from 1990 to 2001. He held cabinet positions between 1981‍ and 1987, including twice ...
, believes that the agreement has given the UK more sovereignty over the island of Britain, but this gain comes at the cost of losing a considerable weight of the UK's sovereignty over Northern Ireland.


In the UK

Prime Minister Boris Johnson said that the TCA would allow the UK "to take back control of our laws, borders, money, trade and fisheries" and would change the basis of the EU–UK relationship "from EU law to free trade and friendly cooperation". The Leader of the Opposition, Sir
Keir Starmer Sir Keir Rodney Starmer (born 2 September 1962) is a British politician and lawyer who has served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom since 2024 and as Leader of the Labour Party (UK), Leader of the Labour Party since 2020. He previously ...
, said that his Labour Party would support the TCA because the alternative would be a "no deal" Brexit, but that his party would seek additional labour and environmental protections in Parliament. Nonetheless, many in his party opposed the agreement. The
Scottish National Party The Scottish National Party (SNP; ) is a Scottish nationalist and social democratic party. The party holds 61 of the 129 seats in the Scottish Parliament, and holds 9 out of the 57 Scottish seats in the House of Commons of the United Kingdom, ...
opposed the TCA because of the economic damage it said leaving the single market would inflict on Scotland. All other opposition parties opposed the TCA. Among pro-Brexit interest groups, the
Eurosceptic Euroscepticism, also spelled as Euroskepticism or EU-scepticism, is a political position involving criticism of the European Union (EU) and European integration. It ranges from those who oppose some EU institutions and policies and seek refor ...
Conservative MPs of the
European Research Group The European Research Group (ERG) is a research support group and caucus of Eurosceptic Conservative Members of Parliament of the United Kingdom. In a ''Financial Times'' article in 2020, the journalist Sebastian Payne described the ERG as " ...
and the
Brexit Party Reform UK is a right-wing populist political party in the United Kingdom. Nigel Farage has been Leader of Reform UK and Richard Tice deputy leader since 2024. It has five members of Parliament (MPs) in the House of Commons and one membe ...
leader
Nigel Farage Nigel Paul Farage ( ; born 3 April 1964) is a British politician and broadcaster who has been Member of Parliament (United Kingdom), Member of Parliament (MP) for Clacton (UK Parliament constituency), Clacton and Leader of Reform UK since 20 ...
endorsed the TCA, but the Bow Group wrote that it would not adequately restore UK sovereignty. The British fishing industry was disappointed that the agreement did not more significantly reduce EU access to British waters. A
YouGov YouGov plc is a international Internet-based market research and data analytics firm headquartered in the UK with operations in Europe, North America, the Middle East, and Asia-Pacific. History 2000–2010 Stephan Shakespeare and Nadhim ...
survey of 29–30 December 2020 reported that 57% of respondents wanted the UK Parliament to accept the TCA and 9% to oppose it, with Conservative (78%) and Leave supporters (69%) more in favour than others. 17% of respondents considered the TCA to be a good deal, 21% a bad one, 31% neither, and 31% were unsure.


See also

*
2016 United Kingdom European Union membership referendum The 2016 United Kingdom European Union membership referendum, commonly referred to as the EU referendum or the Brexit referendum, was a referendum that took place on 23 June 2016 in the United Kingdom (UK) and Gibraltar under the provisions o ...
* EU–UK Partnership Council * European Union (Withdrawal Agreement) Act 2020 * European Union (Future Relationship) Act 2020 * Free trade agreements of the European Union *
Free trade agreements of the United Kingdom Following its Brexit, withdrawal from the European Union on 31 January 2020, the United Kingdom began negotiations on several free trade agreements to remove or reduce tariff and non-tariff barriers to trade, non-tariff barriers to trade, both ...
*
Post-Brexit United Kingdom relations with the European Union After the 2016 United Kingdom European Union membership referendum, British EU membership referendum held on 23 June 2016, in which a majority voted to Brexit, leave the European Union, the United Kingdom experienced political and economic upse ...
* United Kingdom–European Union relations


References


External links

* Trade and Cooperation Agreement: *
UK/EU and EAEC: Trade and Cooperation Agreement [TS No.8/2021]
*
EUR-Lex – L:2021:149:TOC – EN – EUR-Lex

Text in all official EU languages provided by the Council of the European Union

provisional English text, including annexes and protocols
an
declarations

Agreement between the Government of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland and the European Atomic Energy Community for Cooperation on the Safe and Peaceful Uses of Nuclear Energy
in the
Official Journal of the European Union The ''Official Journal of the European Union'' (the ''OJEU'') is the official gazette of record for the European Union (EU). It is published every working day in all of the official languages of the member states of the EU. Only legal acts p ...
, L 150, 30 April 2021
UK/EAEC: Agreement for Cooperation on the Safe and Peaceful uses of Nuclear Energy [TS No.10/2021]
– Draft
Nuclear Cooperation Agreement

UK/EU: Agreement concerning Security Procedures for Exchanging and Protecting Classified Information [TS No.9/2021]
– Draft
Agreement on Security Procedures for Exchanging and Protecting Classified Information
* European Commission publication: EU–UK Trade and Cooperation Agreement
Overview of consequences and benefits
(24 December 2020) * European Commission publication: EU–UK Trade and Cooperation Agreement
Infographic
(24 December 2020) * United Kingdom government
Summary Explainer of the TCA
(24 December 2020) * European Union initial draft
EU – UK CFTA (Draft)
(20 March 2020) * United Kingdom initial draft
UK – EU CFTA (Draft)
(undated, public release 19 May 2020) * U
''Draft European Union (Future Relationship) Bill'' 29 December 2020
{{DEFAULTSORT:EU-UK Trade and Cooperation Agreement * Free trade agreements of the United Kingdom Free trade agreements of the European Union Treaties of the United Kingdom Treaties entered into by the European Union Treaties entered into by the European Atomic Energy Community Treaties concluded in 2020 Treaties entered into force in 2021