Brussels, 30 October 2024
The new political cycles in the EU and the UK bring an opportunity to upgrade the EU-UK relationship, so that it delivers more for businesses and citizens. The EU remains the UK’s biggest trading partner, with the UK being the EU’s third-biggest trading partner (almost 10% of our trade) after the United States and China. In 2023 the EU had a surplus of €211,7 bn in trade in goods and services.
The Trade and Cooperation Agreement (TCA) has allowed businesses to avoid an abrupt transition resulting from the UK’s exit from the single market and customs union, but many additional barriers to trade and investment persist.
In our paper, we stress that:
- Non-tariff barriers associated with regulatory divergence between the two jurisdictions are of particular concern. Businesses welcome regulatory cooperation between the EU and UK, as well as consultation and coordination on the broader regulatory agendas pursued by the two governments.
- Agreements on rules of origin and mutual recognition of conformity assessment for products, as well as active engagement between customs authorities to simplify transit procedures, can significantly reduce the administrative burden for companies trading goods.
- Agreements to enhance the mobility of professionals would be instrumental in limiting the labour shortages that firms are facing in the EU and the UK.
- The EU and UK should strengthen their partnership by adopting common approaches to issues such as de-risking supply chains, pursuing the green transition, and cooperating on energy and supply chain security.
To read the new BusinessEurope paper in full, click here.
Source – BusinessEurope (by email)