The EU Parliament Has Ratified The Post-Brexit EU-UK Trade Deal
This is an important step to ensure that tariff-and quota-free trade in goods continues.
The Trade and Co-operation Agreement (TCA) has been operating provisionally since January.
EU MEPs voted in favour by 660 votes to 5, while 32 abstained.
EU President Ursula von der Leyen tweeted “I warmly welcome the @Europarl_EN vote in favour of the EU-UK Trade and Cooperation Agreement. The TCA marks the foundation of a strong and close partnership with the UK. Faithful implementation is essential.”
Lord Frost tweeted “Hugely welcome the overwhelming vote by @Europarl_EN for our trade agreement with the EU. Hope we can now begin a new chapter together as Europeans, characterised by friendly cooperation between sovereign equals.”
The politics continues as there were some pre-vote comments made by French Europe Minister, Clément Beaune, who accused the UK of blocking fishing rights. He said the EU could respond with "reprisals" in financial services.
Northern Ireland's (NI) trading relationship with the UK and with the EU, won't change as a result of this agreement being ratified. There are still many rounds of negotiations ahead and both sides say they are working to find practical solutions in NI but checks on trade between NI and Britain will remain in place for now.
What is clear is that the vote on the TCA is the first step in a long process of rebuilding the UK EU relationship and we should not expect rapid changes to the way things are. A pragmatic and tentative approach will be required to move the relationship forward over the next few years.
We will keep you up to date with changes as they happen.
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