The past few years of negotiation with the European Union have certainly not been a walk in the park. Concluding a Brexit agreement was a complicated and arduous process. But finally, we had a deal on the future relationship (the Trade and Cooperation Agreement, or TCA) and we have been operating under that agreement since 1st January. So, does this mean we can finally move beyond Brexit? The short answer is no. Or at least, not yet.
Since the TCA was agreed on Christmas Eve, relations with the EU have been turbulent. In February the Lords EU Select Committee, which I chair, heard from the government’s Brexit chief David Frost that the UK-EU relationship had been a “more than bumpy” ride, and as Michael Gove told us, we’re still some way off the “gin and tonic and peanuts” stage of the flight.
Wider tensions have repeatedly surfaced: Frost cited the EU threat to increase controls on vaccine exports to Northern Ireland, and only last week the UK hit back strongly after European Council President Charles Michel accused London of imposing its own ban on the movement of vaccines. This week has seen the EU commence legal action over the UK’s unilateral extension of various grace periods for border formalities affecting Northern Ireland.
But the TCA and the earlier Withdrawal Agreement (or WA) are in place, and we need to make them work. The EU Committee has been taking evidence on the governance of the arrangements—the way the UK and the EU will work together to monitor their operation and discuss issues, and how they will settle disagreements. This will form the basis of the committee’s final report before it is wound down. Published on Monday, it will come to stark conclusions about the rising tensions between the UK and EU, and their impact on the TCA.
Our concerns are all the more acute because the TCA is not the end of the Brexit uncertainty. Not only is there a long list of unfinished business to wrap up, but the TCA itself has not yet been formally ratified by the relevant EU institutions, so the possibility of what would in effect be no deal remains. Our report will address this uncertainty and set out recommendations, drawing on the detailed and expert evidence we’ve heard over the past years and months.
The report will be published alongside four reports from our sub-committees, appearing on successive days. These will analyse the TCA sector by sector, considering its provisions on the environment, trade in goods, trade in services, and law enforcement—all crucial areas where the future UK-EU relationship is still a work in progress.
This will be the final suite of reports from the EU Committees after almost 50 years of meticulous scrutiny work since we joined the Common Market. But, as if to provide conclusive evidence that we aren’t quite beyond Brexit yet, the House of Lords will in April form two entirely new committees: one on European Affairs more widely, and another focusing specifically on the issue of the WA’s Ireland/Northern Ireland Protocol.
The TCA is a lot to digest. It hasn’t yet been ratified in Brussels, it was agreed at speed and it certainly doesn’t tie up all the loose ends. So while the promised land “beyond Brexit” may be in sight, we can’t pretend we’re there yet.
Both sides need to stop the political bickering and understand that liberal democracies are rare and precious. More unites us than divides us, and now is a time for leadership and goodwill. I hope our reports will contribute to a collective effort to ensure a warm, stable and productive relationship between the UK and our closest friends and allies in Europe.
