LONDON (CU)_The United Kingdom on Tuesday (Feb 23), agreed to grant the European Union an extra couple of months to ratify their post-Brexit trade deal, which sets out relations between the parties following the UK’s departure from the bloc.
Although the deal was set to be sealed by the end of this month, however, the EU has requested for an extension, owing to several reasons, including the need to have it translated in all the official languages.
In a letter addressed to the European Commission, Cabinet Office Minister Michael Gove said that he expects that the bloc would be able to “satisfy its internal requirements” by the end of April, and therefore, would not request London to further extend the period of provisional application.
Maros Sefcovic, the EU commissioner overseeing the Brexit deal implementation, told reports in Brussels that the parties are now 10 weeks into the reality of their new relationship. “We have already seen some of the changes brought about by this and I think it is clear to everyone now that our partnership with the UK does not replicate or resemble its former membership of the European Union,” he noted.
The agreement, which outlines bilateral relations on several aspects, including trade, security and fisheries, was signed on Christmas Eve, just days before Britain formally left the EU’s single market. Although the Commission applied the deal provisionally since then, meanwhile, the European Parliament was given until the end of February to scrutinise it.
Nevertheless, the bloc has now expressed its concerns over how London would tackle the issues surrounding trade with Northern Ireland, and this suggests that the EU lawmakers could threaten to withhold their approval in the parliamentary vote.
Trade arrangements for Northern Ireland were one of the most contentious parts of London’s negotiations with Brussels prior to the agreement, and it has once again triggered new disputes between the parties, especially with goods travelling from the UK into Northern Ireland facing delays at the border.
Moreover, London has been seeking to postpone the implementation of full customs checks on selected goods such as medicine and food supplies until 2023, although Brussels has already signaled that this request will be rejected.
