A Proposed New UK-EU Competition Co-operation Agreement
On 29th October 2024, both the European Commission and the UK Department for Business and Trade (“DBT”) issued press releases confirming that the EU and the UK had formally concluded technical negotiations with each other for a new UK-EU Competition Co-operation Agreement which would hopefully be signed up within one year and would enter into force once the EU and the UK had finalised their ratification procedures.
The new Agreement would be a “supplementing agreement” to the UK-EU Trade and Co-operation Agreement 2000 (“TCA”) and reportedly it would allow the Commission , EU-based National Competition Authorities (“NCAs”) and the UK Competition and Markets Authority (“CMA”) to co-operate directly in competition investigations. As contemplated by the TCA, it would be the first EU competition co-operation agreement that enabled NCAs to co-operate directly with a third country competition authority.
It is understood that the new agreement would require a party to bring important antitrust and merger investigations to the attention of the other parties. Reportedly, it would also allow the co-ordination of investigations and set out clear principles of co-operation aimed at avoiding any conflicts between jurisdictions. The consent of the undertaking providing information would continue to be required for the exchange of confidential information.
A positive step forward in the UK – EU relationship, as both sides acknowledged!
Brexit and Poland
Poland has become an increasingly important trading and investment partner of the UK in the post-Brexit era, counter-intuitive as that may sound in the light of Poland’s position within and the UK’s position without the EU!
In recent years, Polish companies have reportedly made strategic acquisitions in the UK in sectors such as defence, engineering, manufacturing, food , logistics and tourism, but this would not seem to mark the limit of their ambitions. It may be partly because of Poland’s strong desire to link up with the West in view of its pre-occupations with its Eastern near neighbours but it may also be at least in part because of Poland’s strong traditional links of family and friendship with the UK. Whatever the explanation, it is worth examining the current state of trade and investment relations between the two countries.
According to an economic factsheet issued by the UK’s Department for Business and Trade (“DBT”) on 1st November 2024, total trade in goods and services ( exports plus imports) between the UK and Poland was £30.6 billion in the four quarters to the end of Q2 ( Quarter 2) 2024, an increase of 5.8% or £1.7 billion in current prices from the four quarters to the end of Q2 2023. Of this £30.6 billion:
- Total UK exports to Poland amounted to £10.6 billion in the four quarters to the end of Q2 2024 ( an increase of 3.2% or £326 million in current prices, compared to the four quarters to the end of Q2 2023); and
- Total UK imports from Poland amounted to £20.0 billion in the four quarters to the end of Q2 2024 ( an increase of 7.2% or £1.3 billion in current prices, compared to the four quarters to the end of Q2 2023).
The DBT factsheet showed that Poland was the UK’s 13th largest trading partner in the four quarters to the end of Q2 2024 , accounting for 1.8% of total UK trade.
The factsheet also showed that in 2022 the outward stock of foreign direct investment (FDI) from the UK in Poland was £7.4 billion accounting for 0.4% of the total UK outward FDI stock and that, in the same period, the inward stock of FDI from Poland in the UK was £460 million, 217.2% or £315 million higher than in 2021 ( though in that period Poland still accounted for less than 0.1% of the total UK inward FDI stock).
Good statistics and it seems that there is further huge potential in the UK – Poland economic relationship! …. or ( to quote Poland’s national poet, Adam Mickiewicz, in “The Great Improvisation”) “Today is the hour of destiny”! ( Mickiewicz , who is also the national poet of Lithuania and Belarus, is buried in the Wawel Cathedral in Krakow, the beautiful former royal capital city of Poland, which is “partnered” with Edinburgh.)
Brexit and the Chancellor’s Mansion House Speech
On 14th November 2024, Rachel Reeves MP, Chancellor of the Exchequer, delivered the Chancellor’s customary annual Mansion House speech in which she proposed measures, which were split into two themes, as follows:
- The first theme relates to investment through financial services and includes, as part of the UK Government’s Industrial Strategy, the development of the first Financial Services Growth and Competitiveness Strategy, which is due to be published in Spring 2025 ;and
- The second theme concerns regulatory reforms to unlock innovation and growth, including the following initiatives:
- Issuing new remit letters to the FCA, the Prudential Regulation Committee, the Financial Policy Committee and the Payment Services Regulator to ensure a greater focus on growth;
- Taking the Advice Guidance Boundary Review forward to help households make well-informed choices about their finances;
- Proposing a package of measures to modernise the rules underpinning the Financial Ombudsman Service;
- Consulting on abolishing the certification regime that applies to staff below the senior management level and replacing it with something more proportionate and less costly with the object of freeing up businesses to focus on growth ;
- Publishing a National Payments Vision;
- Publishing a call for evidence seeking views on the merits of, and considerations for, reforming the credit union common bond requirement for membership in Great Britain; and
- Writing to the FCA and the PRA to request a report on the current mutuals landscape.
Changing times!
Brexit and the Post- Brexit “Reset”
On 23rd November 2024, the BBC News App reported that “the UK Government is hiring a new negotiator to help deliver a “reset” of relations with Europe.”.
Reportedly, the job posting ( published online by the UK Cabinet Office) states that the role will lead the Government’s relationship with the EU and negotiations with the EU “on key UK interests”, with mentions of trade, security and border policy.
It appears that whoever is selected would have the status of Second Permanent Secretary for the EU and International Economic Affairs ( reporting to the Minister for EU relations) and would be required to oversee and lead policy development on trade, including the Windsor Framework, the UK-EU Trade and Cooperation Agreement 2020, the Entry and Exit Scheme and other border policy questions.
The new job posting seems to demonstrate the seriousness of the Government’s wish to have a Post-Brexit reset of relations with the EU ( although expressly not a reversal of Brexit itself).
An interesting development!
