Today, we signed into law a regulation empowering the @EU_Commission to impose trade restrictions should the UK breach its obligations under post-Brexit trading agreements.
With 🇪🇺-🇬🇧 relations in a better place, this is a mechanism that I hope we never have to use.
🐦🔗: https://n.respublicae.eu/SeanKellyMEP/status/1636062055999447041
@EU_Commission @berndlange @davidmcallister @EP_President @EPPGroup @EP_Trade I see that my tweet on the signing of the EU’s new regulation has garnished some attention.
However, it has been mischaracterised (to put it politely) in many of the comments. So here is a thread to explain it in a little more detail. 1/7
🐦🔗: https://n.respublicae.eu/SeanKellyMEP/status/1637837866041581568
@EU_Commission @berndlange @davidmcallister @EP_President @EPPGroup @EP_Trade Under the TCA and WA, both the EU or the UK have the ability to adopt trade restriction measures if Treaty obligations are breached.
The EU, unlike the UK, is not a national government. It is a complex supra-national body with detailed rules governing internal procedures. 2/7
🐦🔗: https://n.respublicae.eu/SeanKellyMEP/status/1637837999349153796
This regulation sets out the internal rules for how the EU would organise a response. The EU is comprised of 27 Member States, having clear procedures gets us to a solution quicker.
It links to pre-existing powers detailed in the TCA and WA, powers that the UK also have. 3/7
🐦🔗: https://n.respublicae.eu/SeanKellyMEP/status/1637838618747183110
One of the major misconceptions is that this regulation is somehow a “threat” or is equivalent to the ‘Northern Ireland Protocol Bill’ that was introduced by the UK govt. 4/7
🐦🔗: https://n.respublicae.eu/SeanKellyMEP/status/1637838622052294657
The NIP Bill sought to tear up the Protocol. Rather than changing an international agreement, this Regulation simply sets out the rules for how the EU should exercise rights that already exist in the TCA and WA. 5/7
🐦🔗: https://n.respublicae.eu/SeanKellyMEP/status/1637838625483128834
I welcome the Windsor Framework and am hopeful for a new chapter in the EU-UK relationship. 7/7
RT @SeanKellyMEP: My speech on the #WindsorFramework and the 🇪🇺🇬🇧 relationship in the @europarl_en yesterday.
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🐦🔗: https://n.respublicae.eu/SeanKellyMEP/status/1637838631523024902
The core tenet of the regulation is proportionality. In fact, MEPs successfully negotiated to ensure there is parliamentary oversight of any enforcement measures adopted.
This would avoid anything similar to the almost triggering of Art. 16 by the Commission in 2021. 6/7
🐦🔗: https://n.respublicae.eu/SeanKellyMEP/status/1637838628544999429