On 12 February 2020, the European Parliament (“EP“) gave its consent to the EU-Vietnam Free Trade Agreement (“EU-Vietnam FTA“) and the Investment Protection Agreement (“EU-Vietnam IPA“). The consent from the EP paves the way for approval of the two agreements by the EU Council of Ministers next month. In brief, the EU-Vietnam FTA focuses on … Read more

Following the UK’s departure as a Member State from the EU on 31 January 2020, the UK is now considering pursuing Free Trade Agreements (“FTAs”) with the EU and the rest of the world. On 6 February, the Department for International Trade (“DIT”) outlined the UK Government’s proposed approach to the negotiation of FTAs with … Read more

The draft Withdrawal Agreement has finally been amended to replace the previous Protocol on Ireland/Northern Ireland with a new Protocol taking a rather different approach to securing the objective of avoiding a hard border between Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland. We will describe below the main features of the new approach and then … Read more

In a landmark decision delivered on an accelerated timetable, the Court of Justice of the European Union (“CJEU“) has ruled that a Member State can unilaterally revoke its notice of intention to withdraw from the European Union (“EU“) under Article 50 of the Treaty on the European Union (“TEU“), upholding the opinion given by the … Read more

On 22 November, the 41st FA Mann Lecture was delivered by the Rt Hon Dominic Grieve QC MP, speaking on the issue: “Brexit – endgame of international engagement or a new start?”  In the Lecture Mr Grieve observed that while “taking back control” may be a powerful idea in conditions where the decline in general … Read more

The 41st of a series of annual lectures in honour of the late Dr FA Mann QC (Hon) (1907-1991) will take place tomorrow in London. This series of lectures, arranged by the Partners of Herbert Smith Freehills LLP, and given under the auspices of the British Institute of International and Comparative Law, focuses on issues … Read more

At a critical time in the Brexit negotiations, in the latest podcast on the Herbert Smith Freehills Podcast channel, Andrew Cannon and Hannah Ambrose discuss dispute resolution between the UK and the EU. They look at the way in which the withdrawal agreement may be enforced, including the possible role of the CJEU, as well … Read more

The White Paper published yesterday, “The Future Relationship between the United Kingdom and the European Union”, includes the UK Government’s proposal for the resolution of disputes between the UK and the EU under what the UK Government views as an “Association Agreement”. This Association Agreement would form the institutional framework for the relationship, with a … Read more