The declaration on the future relationship between the European Union and the United Kingdom, also known as the Political Declaration, is a non-binding declaration, negotiated and signed at the same time as the mandatory and broader withdrawal agreement on the uk`s withdrawal from the European Union (EU), known as Brexit, and the planned end of the transition period. The withdrawal agreement will reduce all cooperation in a controlled manner on the basis of the UK`s accession to the EU. The withdrawal agreement contains no provision on future relations between the EU and the UK. The withdrawal agreement provides for a transition period until the end of 2020, during which time relations between the EU and the UK will continue in accordance with current EU rules, as if the UK were still a member of the EU. The only important exception is that Britain will no longer participate in EU decision-making or the activities of EU institutions during the transition period. The withdrawal agreement also contains provisions for the United Kingdom to leave the Convention setting the status of European schools, with the United Kingdom bound by the Convention and accompanying regulations on accredited European schools until the end of the last academic year of the transition period, i.e. at the end of the spring semester 2020-2021. [20] The EU and the United Kingdom have reached an agreement on the withdrawal agreement with a revised protocol on Ireland and Northern Ireland (abolition of the “backstop”) and a revised political declaration. On the same day, the European Council (Article 50) approved these texts.
The agreement also provides for a transitional period, which will last until 31 December 2020 and can be extended by mutual agreement. During the transitional period, EU legislation will continue to apply to the UK (including participation in the European Economic Area, the internal market and the customs union) and the UK will continue to contribute to the EU budget, but the UK will not be represented in EU decision-making bodies. The transition period will give businesses time to adapt to the new situation and the new era, so that the British and European governments can negotiate a new trade agreement between the EU and the UK. [17] [18] In the 2019 revisions, elements of the political statement were also adapted, replacing the word “appropriate” with “appropriate” with respect to labour standards. According to Sam Lowe, a trade fellow at the Centre for European Reform, the amendment excludes labour standards from dispute resolution mechanisms. [27] In addition, the Equal Competition Mechanism has been postponed from the legally binding withdrawal agreement to the political declaration,[24] and the line of the political statement that “the United Kingdom will consider taking into account alignment with trade union rules in the relevant areas” has been removed. [26] 6. The institutional and final part of the provisions (Articles 158-185) contains rules to ensure uniform interpretation and application of the agreement. In addition, a joint commission and dispute resolution procedure will be put in place to manage the agreement. This section also sets out the objective that the parties will do everything in their power to reach agreement on their future relations before the end of the transition period.
On 6 September 2020, the Financial Times reported that the UK government was considering drafting new laws to circumvent the protocol of the Northern Ireland Withdrawal Agreement. [45] The new law would give ministers the power to determine which state aid should be notified to the EU and to define which products at risk of being transferred from Northern Ireland to Ireland (the withdrawal agreement stipulates that in the absence of a reciprocal agreement, all products are considered vulnerable). [47] The government defended this approach and stated that the legislation was in accordance with protocol and that it had only “clarified” the volumity in the protocol. [48] Ursula von der Leyen warned Johnson not to violate international law and said that the implementation of the withdrawal agreement by Britain was a “precondition for any future partnership”. [49] Sept.