EU–UK Partnership Council

The Partnership Council is a Joint Committee established upon provisional application of the EU–UK Trade and Cooperation Agreement.^[1] It has several governing tasks within the TCA and supplementing agreements between the UK and the EU (Articles COMPROV 2 and Inst 1.2). Each party to the agreement can refer to the Council any issue relating to the implementation, application and interpretation of the TCA. The council has – in the first years – the power to amend certain parts of the TCA "provided that such amendments are necessary to correct errors, or to address omissions or other deficiencies", and has the ability to delegate certain of its powers to the Trade Partnership Committee or to a Specialised Committee.

The Council comprises representatives of the EU and of the UK, and is co-chaired by a member of the European Commission and a ministerial-level representative of the UK government. The draft EU Council decision on the signature of the TCA provides for the right of each member state to be represented in Partnership Council meetings as part of the EU delegation.^[2] It meets at the request of the EU or the UK, and at least once a year, with the agenda set by mutual consent. The council is separate from the conflict handling mechanism through an arbitration procedure ^[3]

Agreements covered by the Council[]

The council has a role in the TCA and other "supplementing agreeements", unless otherwise provided. The agreements in which a role for the council is established are shown below:

Type	Convention	Entry into force	Provisional Application	Legal basis	Reference
TCA	EU–UK Trade and Cooperation Agreement	not in force	1 January 2021^[4]	Article Inst.1	^[1]
Supplementing Agreement	Agreement on Security Procedures for Exchanging and Protecting Classified Information	not in force	1 January 2021^[4]		^[5]

Schema of the EU-UK institutional framework[]

Secretariat[]

The Secretariat will be composed of an official of the EU and an official of the Government of the UK. It will perform the tasks conferred in the Rules of Procedure;^{[citation needed]} in particular, it will take care of the administrative tasks such as correspondence between the EU and UK, agendas and minutes. The official languages will be the official languages of the EU and the UK; the working language will be English.

Committees and Working Groups[]

Articles Int.2 and Inst.4 establish 16 committees and 4 Working groups. Together with the council itself and its secretariat the following (sub)organisations exist.

Partnership Council
- Secretariat of the Partnership Council
- Trade Partnership Committee
- Trade Specialised Committee on Goods
- Trade Specialised Committee on Customs Cooperation and Rules of Origin
- Trade Specialised Committee on Sanitary and Phytosanitary Measures
- Trade Specialised Committee on Technical Barriers to Trade
  - Working Group on Organic Products
  - Working Group on Motor Vehicles and Parts
  - Working Group on Medicinal Products
- Trade Specialised Committee on Services, Investment and Digital Trade
- Trade Specialised Committee on Public Procurement
- Trade Specialised Committee on Regulatory Cooperation
- Trade Specialised Committee on Administrative Cooperation in VAT and Recovery of Taxes and Duties
- Specialised Committee on Energy
- Specialised Committee on Air Transport
- Specialised Committee on Road Transport
- Specialised Committee on Social Security Coordination
  - Working Group on Social Security Coordination
- Specialised Committee on Fisheries
- Specialised Committee on Law Enforcement and Judicial Cooperation
- Specialised Committee on Participation in Union Programmes

Other possible bodies[]

The following organisations may be established based on the institutional framework:

Parliamentary Partnership Assembly
Civil Society Forum

Functioning[]

As of March 2021, 1 decision has been published. The extension of the final date of provisional application of the Trade and Cooperation agreement to 30 April 2021.^[6]

Decision	Agreement	Date	Content	Reference
1/2021	EU–UK Trade and Cooperation Agreement	23 February 2021	Extension of ultimate date for provisional application from 28 February until 30 April 2021.	^[7]

References[]

^ Jump up to: ^a ^b Draft TCA, Article Inst.1, "Trade and Cooperation Agreement between the European Union and the European Atomic Energy Community, of the one part, and the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, of the other part" (PDF). 24 December 2020.
^ "COUNCIL DECISION on the signing, on behalf of the Union, and on provisional application of the Trade and Cooperation Agreement between the European Union and the European Atomic Energy Community, of the one part, and the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, of the other part, and of the Agreement between the European Union and the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland concerning security procedures for exchanging and protecting classified information". Council of the European Union. 28 December 2020. Retrieved 29 December 2020.
^ Article INST.9-20 in the draft TCA). "Trade and Cooperation Agreement between the European Union and the European Atomic Energy Community, of the one part, and the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, of the other part" (PDF). 24 December 2020.
^ Jump up to: ^a ^b "Notice concerning the provisional application of the Trade and Cooperation Agreement between the European Union and the European Atomic Energy Community, of the one part, and the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, of the other part, of the Agreement between the European Union and the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland concerning security procedures for exchanging and protecting classified information and of the Agreement between the Government of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland and the European Atomic Energy Community for Cooperation on the Safe and Peaceful Uses of Nuclear Energy". Official Journal of the European Union. 31 December 2020.
^ "Agreement between the European Union and the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland on Security Procedures for Exchanging and Protecting Classified Information" (PDF). UK en EU. Retrieved 29 December 2020.
^ "The EU-UK Partnership Council decided, at the EU's request, to extend the provisional application of the agreement until 30 April 2021". 23 February 2021.
^ "Decision No 1/2021 of the Partnership Council established by the Trade and Cooperation Agreement between the European Union and the European Atomic Energy Community, of the one part, and the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, of the other part". Partnership Council. 23 February 2021.

External links[]

EU-UK institutional framework

[TCA-1] Jump up to: ^a ^b Draft TCA, Article Inst.1, "Trade and Cooperation Agreement between the European Union and the European Atomic Energy Community, of the one part, and the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, of the other part" (PDF). 24 December 2020.

[2] "COUNCIL DECISION on the signing, on behalf of the Union, and on provisional application of the Trade and Cooperation Agreement between the European Union and the European Atomic Energy Community, of the one part, and the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, of the other part, and of the Agreement between the European Union and the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland concerning security procedures for exchanging and protecting classified information". Council of the European Union. 28 December 2020. Retrieved 29 December 2020.

[TCA920-3] Article INST.9-20 in the draft TCA). "Trade and Cooperation Agreement between the European Union and the European Atomic Energy Community, of the one part, and the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, of the other part" (PDF). 24 December 2020.

[Prov2-4] Jump up to: ^a ^b "Notice concerning the provisional application of the Trade and Cooperation Agreement between the European Union and the European Atomic Energy Community, of the one part, and the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, of the other part, of the Agreement between the European Union and the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland concerning security procedures for exchanging and protecting classified information and of the Agreement between the Government of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland and the European Atomic Energy Community for Cooperation on the Safe and Peaceful Uses of Nuclear Energy". Official Journal of the European Union. 31 December 2020.

[ClassifiedInfo-5] "Agreement between the European Union and the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland on Security Procedures for Exchanging and Protecting Classified Information" (PDF). UK en EU. Retrieved 29 December 2020.

[E210431-6] "The EU-UK Partnership Council decided, at the EU's request, to extend the provisional application of the agreement until 30 April 2021". 23 February 2021.

[1_2021-7] "Decision No 1/2021 of the Partnership Council established by the Trade and Cooperation Agreement between the European Union and the European Atomic Energy Community, of the one part, and the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, of the other part". Partnership Council. 23 February 2021.

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