The post-Brexit trade deal reached by the UK and the EU goes beyond a so-called “Canada-style” trade pact, the BBC said on Friday, citing what it said was a full copy of the accord.
The 1,246-page document includes about 800 pages of annexes and footnotes, the BBC said, adding that the pages of legal text would determine every aspect of trade between the UK and the EU.
British Prime Minister Boris Johnson on Thursday had described the last-minute agreement as a “jumbo” free-trade deal along the lines of that between the EU and Canada, and urged Britain to move on from Brexit divisions.
The BBC report added that at first look, the full post-Brexit text went beyond a so-called “Canada-style” deal.
One annex revealed a late compromise on electric vehicles, the BBC reported.
The EU had sought to offer tariff-free access only to British electric vehicles made mostly with European parts.
That would now be phased in over six years, but is less generous than the UK had requested, the BBC said.
There is a clear commitment not to lower standards on the environment, workers’ rights and climate change from those that exist and the mechanisms to enforce them, the BBC reported.
However, it added that there is also a mutual right to “rebalance” the agreement if there are “significant divergences” capable of “impacting trade.”
Similarly, compensation for unfair subsidies to companies “do not apply” in situations such as natural disasters, the BBC said.
That would exempt the EU’s large package of COVID-19 pandemic support for aviation, aerospace, climate change and electric vehicles.
The deal would preserve Britain’s zero-tariff and zero-quota access to the bloc’s single market of 450 million consumers, but would not prevent economic pain and disruption for the UK or for EU member states.
The UK formally left the EU on Jan. 31, but has since been in a transition period under which rules on trade, travel and business have remained unchanged until the end of this year.
The British Parliament is to debate and vote on the deal on Wednesday, just one day before the transition period lapses.
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