MEPs and UK MPs met in Brussels on 3 and 4 July for the third EU-United Kingdom Parliamentary Partnership Assembly to discuss, among other issues, the state of play within the Partnership Council, EU-UK common efforts to support Ukraine, and cooperation on trade and industrial policy - including responses to the US Inflation Reduction Act.

EU-UK relations are changed following Brexit and the deal reached at the end of 2020. The United Kingdom (UK) left the European Union (EU) on 31 January 2020, after 47 years of EU membership. The UK has lost all the rights and benefits it had as an EU Member State and is no longer a part of the EU’s Single Market and Customs Union.

The EU-UK withdrawal agreement in force since 1 February 2020, ensured that the UK’s withdrawal from the EU happened in an orderly manner, and protects the rights of EU citizens and UK nationals, the EU’s financial interests, and peace and stability on the island of Ireland.

The EU-UK Trade and Cooperation Agreement between the EU and the UK sets out preferential arrangements in areas such as trade in goods and in services, digital trade, intellectual property, public procurement, aviation and road transport, energy, fisheries, social security coordination, law enforcement and judicial cooperation in criminal matters, thematic cooperation and participation in Union programmes. In April 2021 the European Parliament voted with a large majority in favour of granting also its consent to the agreement.

David SASSOLI, EP President meets with Michel BARNIER, Head of Task Force for Relations with the United Kingdom.