Brexit: Commission publication highlights benefits of EU membership over UK Trade and Cooperation Agreement

Jan 27, 2021 Benn-Ibler Rechtsanwälte

Shortly before Christmas, the EU and the United Kingdom (as an exiting EU member state) agreed on a trade and cooperation agreement. This was intended to cushion the most severe consequences for the period after the post-Brexit transition period with 1.1.2021. In a published brief comparison, the Commission emphasised why this trade and cooperation agreement is not comparable with full EU membership.

In the form of a checklist, the Commission highlights examples in the areas of free movement of persons, trade in goods, trade in services, air and road transport, energy and various EU education and research programmes.

According to the Commission's presentation, despite the trade and cooperation agreement, the United Kingdom loses in particular the advantages of no border controls and visa-free stays of more than 90 days. The United Kingdom will also be excluded from the roaming-free area. In addition, British citizens will be subject to restrictions with regard to the right to work, study or live in the EU.

In the area of the trade in goods, although the UK enjoys the possibility of importing goods duty-free - like a full EU member state - trade barriers in other forms cannot be prevented (in particular new customs formalities, procedures concerning the origin of products and sanitary and phytosanitary controls).

British service providers will also lose the possibility to use the European Passport for financial services. In addition, professional qualifications will no longer be recognised as before. The UK will withdraw from the Single European Sky and the Single Market for road transport.

Despite the Trade and Cooperation Agreement, Brexit also affects UK participation in many other initiatives and programmes, such as Erasmus, the Horizon Europe research framework and the use of encrypted military data from the Galileo satellite system.

EU Commission, EU-UK Relations: Big changes compared to benefits of EU membership (December 2020)