EU-UK RELATIONS

A New Relationship, with
big changes

EU-UK Relations; A new relationship, with big changes

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, the EU and the United Kingdom
have spent the past year negotiating the terms of a new “Trade and Cooperation Agreement” to govern their future relations now that the UK is a third country. On 24 December 2020, an agreement in principle was reached at negotiators’
level. Both parties will now advance with the signature and ratification of the Agreement, in line with their respective rules and procedures, with a view to its provisional application from 1 January 2021.