TCA and the Crown Dependencies
The UK–EU Trade and Cooperation Agreement (TCA) extends to the three Crown Dependencies (Jersey, Guernsey, and the Isle of Man) in a limited way. The TCA replaces Protocol 3 but does not contain a chapter dedicated to the Crown Dependencies. Instead, Article 774 on territorial application extends certain provisions to them. The end result is that the CDs are less well integrated with the EU than they were before Brexit.
The TCA specifically includes the Crown Dependencies (CDs) in respect of goods trade and fisheries.
- Goods trade
- free movement of goods between the CDs and the EU no longer applies;
- goods originating in the CDs can benefit from the TCA’s zero-tariff and zero-quota arrangements provided they qualify;
- as CDs are no longer part of the EU customs territory, goods trade now involves customs declarations, rules-of-origin requirements and other administrative processes;
- this includes agricultural and food products (e.g. dairy and meat products) but now sanitary and phytosanitary requirements (SPS) can apply.
- Fisheries
- the TCA set up separate access arrangements for EU vessels to fish in the waters around the CDs, and vice versa for CD vessels;
- it includes a mechanism for the UK and EU to notify each other of new fisheries management measures affecting each other’s vessels;
- they were disputes over the access of French vessels to Jersey waters.
However, consistent with the CDs’ pre-Brexit relationship with the EU, the EU continues to treat them as ‘third countries’ for:
- services trade;
- free movement of persons or capital.
See section on Crown Dependencies and Gibraltar for details of the pre-Brexit position.