The UK Government has today released its version of the draft free trade agreement outlining the future trade relationship between the UK and the EU. The proposal consists of a comprehensive draft agreement covering all trade and a suite of separate draft agreements in a number of areas, including fisheries, aviation and energy. All texts … Read more

There was a time when trade negotiations were just about reducing tariffs and quotas. That was the purpose of GATT negotiating rounds and any tariff concession obtained by one contracting party had to be applied to all countries without discrimination. There were exceptions, in particular for customs unions and free trade areas, but these were … Read more

During the negotiations for the Withdrawal Agreement, much attention was paid to the need to prepare for a no-deal Brexit – where trade with the EU would no longer benefit from all the facilitations made possible by the Single Market, but would be governed by WTO rules only. Both the European Commission and the UK … Read more

During the negotiations for the Withdrawal Agreement, much attention was paid to no-deal Brexit preparations. Both the European Commission and the UK Government issued large numbers of sectoral “preparedness notices” warning participants of the consequences of no deal and insisting that all operators need to prepare. Read more

The Cabinet Office has published a letter, dated 23 April 2020, from John Glen (Economic Secretary to the Treasury) to William Cash (Chair of the European Scrutiny Committee) outlining the government’s intentions with regard to equivalence in financial services under the future UK-EU economic partnership. Mr Glen confirms that the government will be seeking regulatory … Read more

The updated Data Protection section of our Brexit Legal Guide is now available. This provides a useful overview, amongst other things, as to whether: during the transition period, the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) continues to apply and data can be freely transferred between the UK and the EU; after the transition period, UK organisations processing personal … Read more

The updated Trade: The new relationships section of our Brexit Legal Guide is now available. This provides a useful overview, amongst other things, as to whether: during the transition period, the UK remains in the Single Market and the Customs Union, and there continues to be free movement of goods, persons, services and capital between the UK and … Read more

The post below was first published on our Litigation blog On 8 April 2020, the UK submitted its application to accede to the 2007 Lugano Convention on jurisdiction and the recognition and enforcement of judgments, in accordance with the UK government’s previous statements of intention. Read more