On the so-called level playing field, the agreement would provide for the possibility to intervene if the UK or the EU felt that the other party was competing unfairly. Measures taken to restore fair competition would be assessed in an arbitration within 30 days of their approval, with possible compensation if the measures are found to be excessive or unfair. This part of the agreement would prevent the UK from relaxing rules on environmental protection or workers’ rights to gain a competitive advantage over countries that have to comply with stricter EU rules.
Usually trade agreements of this type and size – the original text is said to be more than 2,000 pages long – are negotiated over many years, and ironed out in great detail. Several observers believe that the text will be subject to further micro-negotiations in the coming months to resolve issues left open in today’s agreement.
The text of the agreement will have to be reviewed by the 27 EU governments, who by the end of the year will have to meet in the Council of the European Union – the EU body in which all governments are represented – and approve the document. It will be voted on by the British Parliament on 30 December.
In order for the agreement to enter into force definitively, the approval of the European Parliament is also required. However, in recent days the European Parliament has made it known that it will not be able to study and discuss the text before the end of the year. Barring any surprises, after the Council’s approval, the agreement will enter into force on a provisional basis, as provided for in these cases by the European treatiesand will be discussed by the European Parliament in the first half of January 2021.
Despite the agreement reached, it is expected that in the first days of 2021 there will be a number of disruptions to entering and leaving the UK, especially for goods. The UK government has identified a number of areas in the south of the country for lorries to stop and wait their turn to return to the continent. One of these, the former Manston airport, has already opened in recent days due to the interruption of connections from several European countries after the discovery of a new variant of the coronavirus, which is widespread mainly in the UK.