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After nearly a year of negotiations, the UK and the EU finally agreed to a free trade deal on December 24. On Wednesday, the President of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, and the President of the European Council, Charles Michel, signed the agreement.
The signed agreement must it is now flying military flights to London to be signed by British Prime Minister Boris Johnson. The British Parliament is expected to pass it by a large majority.
The EU Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, and the President of the European Council, Charles Michel, sign the agreement.
Photo: Johanna Geron / AFP
– It is very gratifying that we now have a business agreement with rules. In this way we have avoided the risks that a non-contractual withdrawal would have entailed, says Foreign Trade Minister Anna Hallberg due to the Brexit agreement.
In addition to the duty-free treatment, the agreement covers a large number of areas that help Swedish companies to plan and that cover both goods and services and public procurement, according to the Foreign Trade Minister.
– It is very gratifying that we now have a business agreement with rules. In this way, we have avoided the risks that a non-contractual termination would have entailed, he says.
The UK formally left the EU on January 31 this year. Since then, the country has remained in the acquis communautaire during a transition period that expires at the end of the year. Meanwhile, the parties have negotiated a free trade agreement.
Since the parties were able to agree, the so-called hard Brexit has been averted and duty-free and quota-free trade in goods can continue without interruption after the New Year.
The deal is worth 660 billion pounds (approximately 7.4 trillion SEK) per year. However, there is a clause that allows the imposition of duties if one of the parties considers that the other is incurring price dumping.
The Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, Boris Johnson.
Photo: Adrian Dennis / AFP
The hardest question of agree where fishing was allowed by both parties. The British wanted full control of their fishing waters immediately, while the EU wanted a fourteen-year transition period, which ended in five and a half years.
At 10:45 am today, EU Minister Hans Dahlgren and Foreign Trade Minister Anna Hallberg will hold a press conference on the occasion of the Brexit agreement.
The text is updated
