On May 26, the European Parliament’s Committee on the Internal Market and Consumer Protection (IMCO) organised a public hearing on the implementation of the EU-UK Trade and Cooperation Agreement (TCA), where several business, industry and trade organisations described the specific problems that have emerged from Brexit. However, all Political Groups and the European Commission underlined that these are problems that are structurally stemming from the UK’s decision to leave the European Union and that it is not in the EU’s or the Single Market’s interest to provide levels of friction that can replace membership in the TCA. The discussion also focused on the issue of implementation and enforcement, particularly that of the Ireland-Northern Ireland Protocol and the powers of the European Commission that can be taken unilaterally in case of non-compliance by the UK or a breach of the level-playing field, which was pointed out are unprecedented in any other international agreement signed by the EU.
For more information, please see Briefing. IMCO hearing on EU-UK Trade and Cooperation Agreement
Source: Dods