Global Courant
BRUSSELS
The EU and UK reaffirmed their commitment to implement the Windsor Framework, the February agreement that will guide relations after Brexit.
EU and UK officials are holding a series of meetings in Brussels on Monday and Tuesday to discuss further steps in post-Brexit cooperation.
The EU-UK Withdrawal Joint Committee, led by Maros Sefcovic, European Commission vice-president for inter-agency relations and UK foreign minister James Cleverly, held a meeting on Monday.
Sefcovic and Cleverly also opened the two-day working session of the EU-UK Parliamentary Partnership Assembly, a platform aimed at fostering cooperation between EU and British MPs.
Sefcovic said the Windsor framework “puts our relations on a more positive trajectory”, reiterating that “the EU and the UK are close and like-minded partners”.
He explained that the agreement helps address “concrete problems on the ground in the implementation of the Northern Ireland protocol”, including agri-food, pharmaceuticals, customs, VAT enforcement, state aid and trade quotas.
The EU official stressed that the bloc will continue to work to ensure “full protection of citizens’ rights under the withdrawal agreement”.
At the same time, he underlined that the Trade and Cooperation Agreement between the UK and the EU “can never replace EU membership, and therefore will no longer be as smooth and dynamic as before”.
Cleverly reiterated that his government, along with the EU, is “fully committed to the full implementation of the agreement”.
The EU and the UK have been at odds for years over the implementation of the Northern Ireland Protocol of the Brexit deal, which establishes a special trade regime.
The United Kingdom left the EU on 31 January 2020 after 47 years of membership.
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