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At the last moment of the official “separation” from the European Union 47 years after joining the European Union, the British Parliament finally approved a major agreement determining future trade relations with the European Union, and fired the starting gun for an orderly Brexit starting next year.
On Wednesday, December 30 local time, the House of Commons passed the bill on the trade cooperation agreement between the United Kingdom and the EU with 521 votes in favor and 73 votes against, which was in line with the market expectations. The related bills are expected to pass after they go before the House of Lords.
After both houses pass it and hand it over to the Queen of England for signature, the bill becomes legislation and the trade agreement can go into effect on January 1 of next year before the deadline for the Brexit transition period on December 31.
Although the opposition Labor Party was concerned about the deal earlier, Labor Party leader Keir Starmer said that a deal with narrow coverage is better than no deal. The Labor Party also voted in favor of this vote in the House of Commons.
EU member states approved the deal on Tuesday, paving the way for the deal to go into effect on January 1. The European Parliament will also have to vote on the deal in February or March next year.
The day before Christmas this year, the European Union and the United Kingdom signed a trade agreement that will provide zero tariffs and quotas for trade in goods after the United Kingdom leaves the European Union, relieving exporters of both sides concerned about rising tariffs and costs after Brexit.
However, the agreement did not fully resolve some of the key differences in the negotiations between the UK and Europe, and may create conflicts that are difficult to reconcile in the future. For example, the agreement does not cover the services industry, so the EU has not committed to granting financial services companies that the UK values ”equivalent status”. British Chancellor of the Exchequer Sunak has stated that discussions between the UK and the European Union will continue on the “equivalence” of the financial industry.
Furthermore, under the agreement, fisheries issues have a transition period of five and a half years, during which the British fishing quota in its own waters will increase by 25% of the EU transfer. If the UK and the European Union can show that adjusting their fisheries quotas has had a negative economic and social impact on them in the future, both parties have the right to impose tariffs on the other party’s fishery products. The Federation of British Fishermen’s Organizations regards such concessions as “treason”.
The agreement also stipulates that if the EU can prove that the UK’s actions have distorted the level playing field for businesses in the future, it can impose tariffs on the UK, and if both parties are not satisfied with the implementation process, so too. they have the right to conduct periodic “reviews”. This has ruled out the hope of some British Brexiters to reduce supervision.Return to Sohu to see more
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