Governance of the EU-UK Trade and Cooperation Agreement

Synopsis: This page contains information on the governance of the EU-UK Trade and Cooperation Agreement.

EU-UK Trade and Cooperation Agreement

The EU-UK Trade and Cooperation Agreement (TCA) contains a framework to govern and enforce all aspects of the agreement, including to ensure a ‘level playing field’ for fair and open competition.

The TCA established a Partnership Council, made up of EU and UK representatives. It is co-chaired by European Commission Vice-President Maroš Šefčovič and the UK’s Minister for European Union Relations Nick Thomas-Symonds.

The Council should meet at least once a year and oversees the implementation and application of the TCA. It can meet in different configurations depending on the topic for discussion. It has the power to adopt decisions, make amendments to the TCA, and establish other specialised committees. The adoption of decisions and recommendations should be by mutual consent, and decisions of the Council are binding. Disputes or issues relating to the implementation of the TCA can be referred to the Partnership Council or Specialised Committees. If disputes between the EU and UK cannot be resolved through consultation, an independent arbitration tribunal can be established to decide the matter (this applies to most areas of the agreement).

Previous meetings of the Partnership Council:

Meeting

Agenda

Statements

Minutes

3rd meeting

 

16 May 2024

Agenda

Joint statement

 Minutes

2nd meeting

 

24 March 2023

Agenda

Joint statement

Minutes

1st meeting

 

9 June 2021

Agenda

UK statement

 

European Commission statement

Minutes

Information about meetings of the Partnership Council and its Specialised Committees can be found here.

Specialised Committees have been established to oversee specific areas of the TCA, such as trade in goods, customs cooperation and rules of origin, sanitary and phytosanitary measures, and the ‘level playing field’. Further working groups have been established to assist these committees. These Specialised Committees and working groups are attended by delegations of officials from the UK and EU, and officials from Northern Ireland Executive departments have attended some meetings as part of the UK delegation.

Parliamentary Partnership Assembly (PPA)

The TCA also contains provisions for the European Parliament and the UK Parliament to establish a Parliamentary Partnership Assembly (PPA), made up of members of the respective parliaments, to exchange views on the partnership. The PPA is able to make recommendations to the Partnership Council and request relevant information from the Partnership Council. The European Parliament and UK Parliament agreed to establish a joint assembly with 35 representatives from each delegation.

The second meeting of the EU-UK Parliamentary Partnership Assembly, held in Westminster

The second meeting of the EU-UK Parliamentary Partnership Assembly, held in Westminster | Source: European Parliament

The constitutive meeting of the European Parliament's Delegation to the EU-UK Parliamentary Partnership Assembly (EU-UK PPA) took place on Thursday, 3 October 2024, in Brussels. During the meeting, the Members of the Delegation elected Sandro Gozi (RENEW, France) as the new Chair, and Klára Dobrev (S&D, Hungary), as first Vice-Chair and Mika Aaltola (EPP, Finland), as second Vice-Chair. On the UK side, the Commons and Lords passed motions to establish the PPA in December 2021. The Prime Minister made a statement announcing the UK delegation to the UK-EU Parliamentary Partnership Assembly on 12 December 2024. Marsha de Cordova MP will lead the delegation and Co-Chair. Lord Ricketts and Sarah Bool MP were appointed Vice-Chairs. Baroness Ritchie of Downpatrick and Robin Swann MP are both members of the delegation. 

Members of the Northern Ireland Assembly, Scottish Parliament and Senedd Cmyru called for a defined role for the devolved legislatures in the PPA and can attend the plenary meetings as observers.

Meeting

Agenda

Statements

4th meeting

4-5 December 2023

Agenda

 

Meeting documents

Recommendation on youth mobility schemes, student exchanges, school trips, and touring artists

3rd meeting

3-4 July 2023

Brussels

Agenda

 

Meeting documents

Joint Statement from the Co-Chairs

 

Recommendation on EU-UK common efforts to support Ukraine and effective cooperation on sanctions

 

Address by UK Foreign Secretary James Cleverly

 

Address by European Commission Vice-President Maroš Šefčovič

2nd meeting

7-8 November 2022

London

 Agenda

Joint statement from the Co-Chairs

 

Recommendation concerning UK-EU energy cooperation

 

Address by European Commission Vice-President Maroš Šefčovič

 

Address by Leo Docherty, Minister for Europe and the Parliamentary Under Secretary of State for the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (video)

1st meeting

12-13 May 2022

Brussels

Agenda

 

Joint statement from the Co-Chairs

 

Address by European Commission Vice-President Maroš Šefčovič

 

Address by UK Minister for the Cabinet Office Michael Ellis

The European Commission, in its October 2021 proposal on engagement with Northern Ireland stakeholders and authorities, suggested the possibility of a Northern Ireland sub-structure to the PPA.

For further information, the House of Commons Library has published a briefing on the EU-UK Parliamentary Partnership Assembly.

The graphic below shows the governance structure of the TCA:

Civil Society Forum (CSF)

The UK and EU should consult and consider the views of civil society on the implementation of the TCA. Under the TCA, the EU and UK established Domestic Advisory Groups (DAGs), made up of civil society organisations, such as NGOs, business organisations, and trade unions, which advise the respective parties on the implementation of the agreement. A Civil Society Forum (CSF), involving representatives from both the EU and UK, should meet once a year to discuss and submit their views on the TCA. The domestic advisory groups participate. The first meeting of the UK DAG was held in April 2022 and the first meeting of the CSF was held in Brussels in October 2022.