The United Kingdom published on Saturday the trade agreement reached with the European Union to facilitate its break with the bloc, revealing for the first time details of the agreement that both sides announced earlier this week.
The 1,246-page business document covers a range of business issues, as well as agreements on topics such as nuclear power and intelligence exchange. It mainly means that, when leaving the EU, the UK will not face any tariffs or quotas in its trade relations with its continental neighbors.
As part of the agreement, the UK will be forced to subscribe to the “level playing field” principles to ensure that EU trade partners do not have an advantage over the continent when receiving state aid or implementing more flexible environmental or labor regulations. British products will also have to face regulatory controls at the border.
The two sides announced the trade agreement earlier this week, saluting it as a good deal, after months of tense negotiations. The deal helps prevent a “tough” Brexit before the UK’s formal breakdown in January, which would have caused widespread disruptions across Europe.
The agreement was presented to European ministers on Friday and is expected to be ratified by the European and British parliaments.
“We finally found an agreement. It was a long and winding road, but we have a lot to show. It is fair, it is a balanced agreement and it is the right and responsible thing to do on both sides, ”said European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, at a news conference on Thursday.
The agreement allows each side to use an independent grant control adjudicator to resolve any disputes.
Specific provisions include agreements on services, which represent about 80% of the UK economy, and fishing rights, an important issue for coastal cities in the UK and the EU.
The two sides agreed on services to “establish a favorable climate for the development of trade and investment between them”, and the United Kingdom said it would implement new rules on EU fishing in British waters for five and a half years. After that period, the two parties would hold annual negotiations on EU vessels that can fish in these waters.
The UK will also no longer participate in certain security sharing groups, but intelligence is yet to flow between the two sides.
The deal closes four years of uncertainty since a 2016 UK referendum, which resulted in a small majority of voters supporting the European bloc’s exit. The vote sparked a struggle on both sides to find a way to formalize the rupture, with years of negotiations proving fruitless until the last few months.