14. Transition period negotiations

brexit-fact-base-london — Photo by Alexandros Michailidis/Shutterstock

Transition period ran from 1 February 2020 until 31 December 2020
- only about nine months for negotiation, allowing for ratification period
- one-time opportunity for extension before 1 July 2020
EU was open to an extension but UK did not ask for one, despite COVID-19 overwhelming government, impeding negotiations and severely harming economy.
European Commission’s negotiating objectives:
- future relationship with UK
- implementation of the Withdrawal Agreement
- no-deal preparations
Future UK-EU relationship had five key elements:
- institutional arrangements
- economic partnership
- security partnership
- basis for participation in programmes (e.g. Erasmus, Horizon Europe)
- EU autonomous measures (e.g. granting of equivalence)
UK government’s stated aims were:
- zero tariffs and quotas on UK-EU goods trade
- ability to diverge from EU regulations and rules but:
  - EU pre-condition for FTA was UK commitment to level playing field provisions
  - divergence would have definite, large costs and uncertain, small benefits
UK almost certainly could not implement the WA’s Northern Ireland Protocol fully by 31 December 2020, meaning:
- practical and political disruption in NI
- UK could be taken to ECJ
An FTA would be economically costly, but would be better than ‘no deal’:
- on 24 December, the EU-UK Trade and Cooperation Agreement was signed
On 31 December at 11pm, the UK left the EU single market and customs union, and EU law ceased to apply to the UK.
Implementation activities would continue in 2021 and beyond.