NextGenerationEU is a €750 billion temporary recovery instrument to help repair the immediate economic and social damage brought about by the coronavirus pandemic. Post-COVID-19 Europe will be greener, more digital, more resilient and better fit for the current and forthcoming challenges.

The Recovery and Resilience Facility: the centrepiece of NextGenerationEU with €672.5 billion in loans and grants available to support reforms and investments undertaken by EU countries. The aim is to mitigate the economic and social impact of the coronavirus pandemic and make European economies and societies more sustainable, resilient and better prepared for the challenges and opportunities of the green and digital transitions. Member States are working on their recovery and resilience plans to access the funds under the Recovery and Resilience Facility.
Recovery Assistance for Cohesion and the Territories of Europe (REACT-EU): NextGenerationEU also includes €47.5 billion for REACT-EU. It is a new initiative that continues and extends the crisis response and crisis repair measures delivered through the Coronavirus Response Investment Initiative and the Coronavirus Response Investment Initiative Plus. It will contribute to a green, digital and resilient recovery of the economy. The funds will be made available to

the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF)

the European Social Fund (ESF)

the European Fund for Aid to the Most Deprived (FEAD)

These additional funds will be provided in 2021-2022 from NextGenerationEU and in 2020 through a targeted revision to the current financial framework.

NextGenerationEU will also bring additional money to other European programmes or funds such as Horizon2020, InvestEU, rural development or the Just Transition Fund (JTF).

NextGenerationEU breakdown

Recovery and Resilience Facility (RRF)
€672.5 billion

of which, loans
€360 billion

of which, grants
€312.5 billion

ReactEU
€47.5 billion

Horizon Europe
€5 billion

InvestEU
€5.6 billion

Rural Development
€7.5 billion

Just Transition Funds (JTF)
€10 billion

RescEU
€1.9 billion

TOTAL
€750 billion

Source: Conclusions of the European Council of 21 July 2020
On this note, keep a eye out for programs hosted by the EACCNY on this topic. There will be much to discuss! Our upcoming events can be found here.

Compliments of the European Commission
The post Recovery Plan for Europe: NextGenerationEU first appeared on European American Chamber of Commerce New York [EACCNY] | Your Partner for Transatlantic Business Resources.

December 28, 2020 | By HR/VP Josep Borell
Especially during the Covid-19 “infodemic”, we have seen how widespread and how damaging foreign interference and disinformation can be for our security, our democracy and our societies. Addressing disinformation is an urgent necessity.
In a recent blog post, I discussed the threats that our democracies are facing in the cyberspace. I have also spoken often about the on-going ‘battles of narratives’. Countries and political leaders are trying to explain their positions and to portray themselves in a favourable light. This is a normal way of acting: in democracies, political leaders have an obligation to communicate about objectives and values. This is why the EU put a lot of effort in explaining our policy approaches and the thinking behind our actions and proposals.
Beyond legitimate “public diplomacy”
However, some go much further than conducting legitimate ‘public diplomacy’. They present their way of addressing global challenges as the only effective one, while attempting to discredit others. Some foreign actors, be they state or non-state, even engage in disinformation campaigns, deliberately spreading false or misleading information. They do so to weaken us and to harm our ability to respond to crisis effectively.
“Some foreign actors, be they state or non-state, even engage in disinformation campaigns, deliberately spreading false or misleading information.”
For example, the Western vaccine developers are openly mocked on multi-lingual Russian state-controlled media, which has in some cases led to as absurd claims that vaccines will turn people into monkeys. Such narratives are apparently directed at countries where Russia wants to sell its own vaccine, Sputnik V. In the current pandemic, any attempt to instigate such unfounded doubts threatens public health. Terrorist organisations, such as Da’esh, have also used the confusion in the Corona-situation to spread their own propaganda.
Disinformation has been with us for a long time
This is not a new challenge: disinformation has been with us for a long time. However, with the possibilities offered by the Internet, it now spreads faster than ever, reaching citizens in their homes every day. Some state actors, like Russia and China, are actively involved in these activities, trying to undermine and delegitimise our democratic systems and the values of freedom, pluralism and checks and balances they are built upon.
“The EU has been working on tackling disinformation(link is external) for many years now and the EEAS has been a pioneer in monitoring pro-Kremlin disinformation.”
The EU has been working on tackling disinformation(link is external) for many years now. The European External Actions Service (EEAS) has been a pioneer in monitoring pro-Kremlin disinformation, and has then expanded its focus and toolbox. Today, EEAS taskforces focus on three different regions: the East, Southern Neighbourhood and the Western Balkans. We have recently published our 5th Special Report on COVID-19 disinformation, which shows again how much these activities can cause considerable damage during a global health crisis.
The intentional spread of false or misleading information is only part of the challenge(link is external). During the pandemic, the fight against mis- and disinformation has been also used by authoritarian regimes as a pretext to limit fundamental rights and especially freedom of expression and freedom of the media.
“We have seen attempts during the pandemic to use the fight against mis- and disinformation as a pretext to limit fundamental rights and freedoms.”
Measures range from the expulsion of foreign correspondents to online harassment and in some cases even threatening physical harm. We cannot accept this: freedom of speech and media freedom are a vital pillar of our democracies and we rely also on independent reporting from around the world. If the work of journalists is restricted, we need to take a strong stance.
The EU will protect these principles and respond effectively to disinformation. We often talk about silos that inhibit an effective approach to tackling problems in Europe. In the field of disinformation, we are working every day to increase cooperation across different EU Institutions and member states and develop the EU’s Rapid Alert System (RAS) against disinformation. A network of officials in the EU institutions and the EU member states that are dealing with disinformation related issues to enable common situational awareness and threat assessment and to strengthen coordination with researchers, civil society organisations and our international partners. 
Thanks to the cooperation with our international partners like the G7 and NATO, we can track also global trends and prepare for them. Fact-checkers, journalists, NGOs and think tanks are also contributing immensely to curbing the spread of disinformation.
On 2 December, the European Commission presented the European Democracy Action Plan, focussing on election integrity, media pluralism and tackling disinformation. In all of this, we must use a “whole-of-society” response, including civil society, media, academia and private sector (most importantly online platforms and advertisers) to protect our democracies from foreign interference.
We must also increase international cooperation. Europe is not an island: there are no borders in cyberspace. Our attempts to protect ourselves from these threats internally, risk being undermined by manipulative interference launched from countries with weaker regulatory and monitoring capacities.
“We know that we must increase international cooperation.”
The EU is offering technical support to authorities and civil society all over the world to build the capacities and oversight that we are developing inside the EU. We are providing assistance for election-related matters, for example helping others monitor online electoral campaigns and promoting initiatives on digital media literacy. The EU is also implementing a project to address COVID-19 disinformation in African countries and the Middle East. We are building partnerships with fact-checkers across Eastern Partnership countries and the Western Balkans, and we keep supporting independent journalism via the European Endowment for Democracy(link is external) in our neighbourhood and beyond.
As the world’s largest trade bloc, the EU’s normative and regulatory power extends globally. The rules and responses that we put in place within Europe to deal with interference in our democratic life and elections will play an important role in setting global standards. This is especially true for the Digital Services Act (DSA) and Digital Markets Act (DMA), proposed by the European Commission on 15 December 2020. In the fight against disinformation and foreign interference, an appropriate and transparent risk management by large platforms is a crucial step to curbing the spread of false or misleading information and safeguarding civic discourse from manipulative behaviour. In full respect of fundamental rights and freedoms, the DSA and DMA would provide the EU with necessary instruments for a better accountability, transparency and auditability of platforms’ actions.
“The Digital Services Act (DSA) and Digital Markets Act (DMA) package will bring us closer to better accountability, transparency and auditability of platforms’ actions.”
We still need to do more in the area of disinformation to prevent our adversaries to employ low-cost, low-risk and high-reward tactics to attack our societies and democracies. We must ensure that actors who intentionally disrupt and divide our societies with manipulative tactics will face appropriate consequences. Spreading disinformation must come at a price.
Compliments of the European External Action Service.
The post The essential fight against disinformation and manipulation first appeared on European American Chamber of Commerce New York [EACCNY] | Your Partner for Transatlantic Business Resources.

After intensive negotiations, the European Commission has reached today an agreement with the United Kingdom on the terms of its future cooperation with the European Union.
President of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen said: “It was worth fighting for this deal because we now have a fair and balanced agreement with the UK, which will protect our European interests, ensure fair competition, and provide much needed predictability for our fishing communities. Finally, we can leave Brexit behind us and look to the future. Europe is now moving on.”
The European Commission’s Chief Negotiator, Michel Barnier, said: “We have now come to the end of a very intensive four-year period, particularly over the past nine months, during which we negotiated the UK’s orderly withdrawal from the EU and a brand new partnership, which we have finally agreed today. The protection of our interests has been front and centre throughout these negotiations and I am pleased that we have managed to do so. It is now for the European Parliament and the Council to have their say on this agreement.”
The draft Trade and Cooperation Agreement consists of three main pillars:
A Free Trade Agreement: a new economic and social partnership with the United Kingdom

The agreement covers not just trade in goods and services, but also a broad range of other areas in the EU’s interest, such as investment, competition, State aid, tax transparency, air and road transport, energy and sustainability, fisheries, data protection, and social security coordination.
It provides for zero tariffs and zero quotas on all goods that comply with the appropriate rules of origin.
Both parties have committed to ensuring a robust level playing field by maintaining high levels of protection in areas such as environmental protection, the fight against climate change and carbon pricing, social and labour rights, tax transparency and State aid, with effective, domestic enforcement, a binding dispute settlement mechanism and the possibility for both parties to take remedial measures.
The EU and the UK agreed on a new framework for the joint management of fish stocks in EU and UK waters. The UK will be able to further develop British fishing activities, while the activities and livelihoods of European fishing communities will be safeguarded, and natural resources preserved.
On transport, the agreement provides for continued and sustainable air, road, rail and maritime connectivity, though market access falls below what the Single Market offers. It includes provisions to ensure that competition between EU and UK operators takes place on a level playing field, so that passenger rights, workers’ rights and transport safety are not undermined.
On energy, the agreement provides a new model for trading and interconnectivity, with guarantees for open and fair competition, including on safety standards for offshore, and production of renewable energy.
On social security coordination, the agreement aims at ensuring a number of rights of EU citizens and UK nationals. This concerns EU citizens working in, travelling or moving to the UK and to UK nationals working in, travelling or moving to the EU after 1st January 2021.
Finally, the agreement enables the UK’s continued participation in a number of flagship EU programmes for the period 2021-2027 (subject to a financial contribution by the UK to the EU budget), such as Horizon Europe.

A new partnership for our citizens’ security

The Trade and Cooperation Agreement establishes a new framework for law enforcement and judicial cooperation in criminal and civil law matters. It recognises the need for strong cooperation between national police and judicial authorities, in particular for fighting and prosecuting cross-border crime and terrorism. It builds new operational capabilities, taking account of the fact that the UK, as a non-EU member outside of the Schengen area, will not have the same facilities as before. The security cooperation can be suspended in case of violations by the UK of its commitment for continued adherence to the European Convention of Human Rights and its domestic enforcement.

A horizontal agreement on Governance: A framework that stands the test of time

To give maximum legal certainty to businesses, consumers and citizens, a dedicated chapter on governance provides clarity on how the agreement will be operated and controlled. It also establishes a Joint Partnership Council, who will make sure the Agreement is properly applied and interpreted, and in which all arising issues will be discussed.
Binding enforcement and dispute settlement mechanisms will ensure that rights of businesses, consumers and individuals are respected. This means that businesses in the EU and the UK compete on a level playing field and will avoid either party using its regulatory autonomy to grant unfair subsidies or distort competition.
Both parties can engage in cross-sector retaliation in case of violations of the agreement. This cross-sector retaliation applies to all areas of the economic partnership.

Foreign policy, external security and defence cooperation is not covered by the Agreement as the UK did not want to negotiate this matter. As of 1 January 2021, there will therefore be no framework in place between the UK and the EU to develop and coordinate joint responses to foreign policy challenges, for instance the imposition of sanctions on third country nationals or economies.
The Trade and Cooperation Agreement covers a number of areas that are in the EU’s interest. It goes well beyond traditional free trade agreements and provides a solid basis for preserving our longstanding friendship and cooperation. It safeguards the integrity of the Single Market and the indivisibility of the Four Freedoms (people, goods, services and capital). It reflects the fact that the UK is leaving the EU’s ecosystem of common rules, supervision and enforcement mechanisms, and can therefore no longer enjoy the benefits of EU membership or the Single Market.  Nevertheless, the Agreement will by no means match the significant advantages that the UK enjoyed as a Member State of the EU.
Big changes coming: getting ready 1 January 2021
Even with the new EU-UK Trade and Cooperation Agreement in place, there will be big changes on 1 January 2021.
On that date, the UK will leave the EU Single Market and Customs Union, as well as all EU policies and international agreements. The free movement of persons, goods, services and capital between the UK and the EU will end.
The EU and the UK will form two separate markets; two distinct regulatory and legal spaces. This will create barriers to trade in goods and services and to cross-border mobility and exchanges that do not exist today – in both directions.
The Withdrawal Agreement
The Withdrawal Agreement remains in place, protecting amongst other things the rights of EU citizens and UK nationals, the EU’s financial interests, and crucially, peace and stability on the island of Ireland. The full and timely implementation of this agreement has been a key priority for the European Union.
Thanks to intensive discussions between the EU and the UK in the Joint Committee and the various Specialised Committees, the Withdrawal Agreement – and the Protocol on Ireland and Northern Ireland, in particular – will be implemented on 1 January.
On 17 December, the EU-UK Joint Committee met to endorse all formal decisions and other practical solutions related to the implementation of the Withdrawal Agreement. As part of these mutually agreed solutions, the UK has agreed to withdraw the contentious clauses of the UK Internal Market Bill, and will not introduce any similar provisions in the Taxation Bill.
Next steps
The entry into application of the Trade and Cooperation Agreement is a matter of special urgency.

The United Kingdom, as a former Member State, has extensive links with the Union in a wide range of economic and other areas. If there is no applicable framework regulating the relations between the Union and the United Kingdom after 31 December 2020, those relations will be significantly disrupted, to the detriment of individuals, businesses and other stakeholders.
The negotiations could only be finalised at a very late stage before the expiry of the transition period. Such late timing should not jeopardise the European Parliament’s right of democratic scrutiny, in accordance with the Treaties.
In light of these exceptional circumstances, the Commission proposes to apply the Agreement on a provisional basis, for a limited period of time until 28 February 2021.

The Commission will swiftly propose Council decisions on the signature and provisional application, and on the conclusion of the Agreement.
The Council, acting by the unanimity of all 27 Member States, will then need to adopt a decision authorising the signature of the Agreement and its provisional application as of 1 January 2021. Once this process is concluded, the Trade and Cooperation Agreement between the EU and the UK can be formally signed.
The European Parliament will then be asked to give its consent to the Agreement.
As a last step on the EU side, the Council must adopt the decision on the conclusion of the Agreement.
Compliments of the European Commission.
The post EU-UK Trade and Cooperation Agreement: protecting European interests, ensuring fair competition, and continued cooperation in areas of mutual interest first appeared on European American Chamber of Commerce New York [EACCNY] | Your Partner for Transatlantic Business Resources.

By John Bruton, former Taoiseach, Irish Prime Minister, and former EU Ambassador to the United States
The Trade and Cooperation Agreement between the EU and the UK is an exercise in damage limitation. The UK will face numerous obstacles because of its decision to leave the EU, including leaving the Customs Union and Single Market.
But it was in nobody’s interest to add to these obstacles. That was the spirit in which the EU approached the negotiation.
The Agreement may run to 1256 pages, but it boils down to some fairly simple and sensible ideas.
While no longer a member of the EU, the UK still wants to do business with the EU, and the EU members want to do business with it.
So, for the future, there needs to be a system for ensuring that there are no surprises, or unfair trading , that would disrupt mutually beneficial business. That is essentially what the Agreement is all about.
While the UK was a member of the EU, that goal was achieved by having a common set of business rules, made democratically and together, and interpreted in a consistent way by the European Court of Justice (ECJ). These rules could be enforced in national courts. In other words the goal of predictable and fair business conditions between the UK and its fellow EU members was achieved directly by common action.
Under the new Agreement, the same goal will be pursued, but indirectly.
Common rules, made and interpreted in common, will be replaced, as far as trade between the EU and the UK is concerned, by understandings set out in the Agreement, which will be interpreted by arbitrators appointed under the Agreement.
These understandings will have legal force, but will generally only be enforceable under the procedures set out in the Agreement, rather than directly in national courts.
While the EU and the UK will each be free to determine their own policies on the environment, social and working conditions, and subsidy controls, Article 9.4 of the Agreement allows for “rebalancing” measures to be taken by the other side if it feels its own businesses are being put at a disadvantage. This is supposed to restore the level in the level playing field.
The Agreement contains principles, now to be enshrined in international law through the Agreement, that are shared by the EU and the UK. These cover environmental, social and subsidy issues. Arbitration Tribunals to be set up under the Agreement will interpret these agreed principles in specific cases. They will have a legal, but also a political, task.
Most of the text of the Agreement is taken up with procedures for resolving disputes.
Matters, currently resolved in national courts under EU law, will have to be resolved at inter state level between the UK and the EU, rather than in the national courts. This is inherently more cumbersome.
Sometimes the issue will be settled by political agreement in one of the myriad of committees set up under the Agreement.
ARBITRATION…. THE CORE IDEA
If the issue cannot be settled in this way, it will go the arbitration.
So, instead of the interpretation being done by Judges of the ECJ, they will be done by an Arbitration Tribunal set up under the Agreement.
An Arbitration Tribunal will consist of three people. There will be lists of qualified arbitrators from which the three may be chosen, one by the UK and one by the EU and the Chair of the Tribunal will be someone who is not from EU or the UK.
I think this idea that the chair must come from outside either the EU or UK may prove difficult. It will not  always be easy  to find suitable chairs who are not either British or EU citizens, especially as the work will have to be done at short notice and under tight time limits.
To qualify for appointment, an arbitrator will have to have “demonstrated expertise in law and international trade” .  They will all have to be people “whose independence is beyond doubt”. They will serve in their individual capacities, and not take instructions from anyone. They will have to be people who would qualify to be judges in their home countries.
I suspect there will be a lot of intense haggling over the composition of particular Arbitration Tribunals.  The nationality of the arbitrators and their past records will be scrutinised by the governments most affected by the issues in dispute.
There are detailed provisions in the Agreement to prevent stalling by either the EU, or the UK, in appointing Arbitrators. Once established, the Tribunals will have to deliver their ruling within 130 days . Within 30 days after that, the affected party will have to say how they will comply with the ruling.
This entire structure of dispute resolution will be presided over by a Partnership Council to be chaired jointly, by a UK Minister and an EU Commissioner. It will be assisted by over 20 specialised committees and a number of Working Groups, all of which are listed in Title III of the Agreement.
EVEN MORE MEETINGS THAN BEFORE!
I expect that there will, in the future, be even more EU related meetings for UK officials than in the past.  But the dynamic will be different.
Instead of being able to build alliances on particular topics with other EU member states, the UK will in future find itself alone in the room with the European Commission.
The Commission side will have instructions, negotiated in advance with the 27 member states, so there will be a high degree of rigidity in the process.
As the EU member state most affected by relations between the UK and the EU, this will be a particular challenge for Ireland. Irish officials in Brussels and will have to stay on top of all that is going on in the various EU/UK committees. Cultivating an understanding with the Commission officials serving on these committees will be a priority.
No longer in the EU, the UK will, notwithstanding the provisions of the Agreement, encounter significant extra bureaucracy and uncertainty in doing business with the EU.
PARTING COMPANY GRADUALLY
This will lead to a gradual divergence between the UK and all its European neighbours, including Ireland. That, in turn, will have cultural and political effects.
The UK, and the EU states including Ireland will, so to speak, be mixing in different company .They will increasingly be seeing the world from diverging angles of vision. Issues that were previously depoliticised will become more political.
Eventually, this may affect the way the UK sees its physical and military security. NATO is already under strain, and Brexit creates a new fault line within NATO.
While Ireland is not in NATO, we live in a part of the world which has sheltered under the NATO umbrella, and we are deeply interconnected with NATO’s biggest member, the US.
Brexit may be over and done with, but the forces which led to it…identity politics and suspicion of foreigners….have not gone away.The post What The Brexit Trade Deal Means by John Bruton first appeared on European American Chamber of Commerce New York [EACCNY] | Your Partner for Transatlantic Business Resources.

NOTE: The Trade and Cooperation Agreement and other agreements below are provided for information only. No rights may be derived from them until the date of application. The numbering of the articles is provisional.

The United Kingdom and the European Union have agreed a Trade and Cooperation Agreement, an Agreement on Nuclear Cooperation and an Agreement on Security Procedures for Exchanging and Protecting Classified Information. These Agreements are designed to honour the instruction of the British people – expressed in the referendum of 2016 and the general election last year – to take back control of our laws, borders, money, trade and fisheries. It changes the basis of our relationship with our European neighbours from EU law to free trade and friendly cooperation.
Summary Explainer  [PDF, 460KB, 34 pages]

Foreword from the Prime MinisterThis Agreement with the European Union is designed to honour the instruction of the British people – expressed in the referendum of 2016 and the general election last year – to take back control of our laws, borders, money, trade and fisheries. It changes the basis of our relationship with our European neighbours from EU law to free trade and friendly cooperation.
And this ambitious Agreement – carefully judged to benefit everyone – is the first the EU has ever reached allowing zero tariffs and zero quotas. We will preserve the immense benefits of free trade for millions of people in the United Kingdom and across Europe.
At the same time, our Agreement means that the UK will fully recover its national independence. At 11pm on 31 December, we will take back control of our trade policy and leave the EU customs union and single market. We will take back control of our waters, with this treaty affirming British sovereignty over our vast marine wealth. We will take back control of our money by ending vast payments to the EU. We will take back control of our borders and will introduce our new points-based immigration system at the start of next year. Most importantly, the agreement provides for the UK to take back control of our laws, affording no role for EU law and no jurisdiction for the European Court of Justice. The only laws we will have to obey are the ones made by the Parliament we elect.
While we made our fair share of compromises during the negotiations, we never wavered from the goal of restoring national sovereignty – the central purpose of leaving the EU. I have always said that Brexit was not an end but a beginning: the start of a new era of national change and renewal, the next act in the great drama of our country’s story. We will regain the ability to wield powers that have for too long been the sole preserve of Brussels. We will now take up these tools to deliver the changes that people yearn for and, in so doing, we will restore faith in our democracy.
The UK is, of course, culturally, spiritually and emotionally part of Europe. This agreement provides for close and friendly cooperation with our neighbours in all the many areas where our values and interests coincide. It is my fervent hope that this Treaty, rooted in Britain’s sense of itself as a proudly European country, will help to bring people together and heal some of the divisions created by the referendum over four years ago.
The responsibility now falls on our shoulders to take full advantage of the freedom of action our country has regained. Next year will be our opportunity to show what Global Britain can do, reasserting ourselves as a liberal free trading nation and a force for good in the world.
More information
1. Introduction
2. Trade and Cooperation Agreement: Overview
3. Part 1 – Common and Institutional Provisions
4. Part 2 – Trade, Transport, Fisheries and Other Arrangements
5. Heading Five – Fisheries
6. Part 3 – Law Enforcement and Judicial Cooperation in Criminal Matters
7. Part 4 – Thematic Cooperation
8. Part 5 – Participation in Union Programmes
9. Part 6 – Dispute Settlement and Horizontal Provisions
10. Part 7 – Final Provisions
11. Other Agreements
ADDITIONAL INFORMATION

Trade and Cooperation Agreement (including Annexes and Protocols)  [PDF, 9.21MB, 1246 pages]

Declarations  [PDF, 711KB, 26 pages]

Nuclear Cooperation Agreement  [PDF, 279KB, 18 pages]

Agreement on Security Procedures for Exchanging and Protecting Classified Information  [PDF, 226KB, 8 pages]

Compliments of Her Majesties Government

The post Agreements reached between the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland and the European Union first appeared on European American Chamber of Commerce New York [EACCNY] | Your Partner for Transatlantic Business Resources.

On 1 January 2021, the United Kingdom will leave the EU Single Market and Customs Union, and all EU policies. This was its choice.
As a result, it will lose all the rights and benefits it had as an EU Member State, and will no longer be covered by the EU’s international agreements. This will bring far-reaching changes, affecting citizens, businesses, public administrations and stakeholders in both the EU and the UK. To limit the disruption insofar as possible, the EU and the United Kingdom have spent the past year negotiating the terms of a new “Trade and Cooperation Agreement” to govern their future relations now that the UK is a third country.
On 24 December 2020, an agreement in principle was reached at negotiators’ level. Both parties will now advance with the signature and ratification of the Agreement, in line with their respective rules and procedures, with a view to its provisional application from 1 January 2021.
The new EU-UK Trade and Cooperation Agreement: What has been agreed?
On 24 December 2020, EU and UK negotiators reached an “agreement in principle” on the text of a new “Trade and Cooperation Agreement” to govern their relations now that the UK has left the EU. Both parties must now advance with the signature and ratification of this Agreement in line with their respective rules and procedures, with a view to its provisional application as from 1 January 2021.
While the new EU-UK Trade and Cooperation Agreement will by no means match the level of cooperation that existed while the UK was an EU member, it goes well beyond traditional free trade agreements and provides a solid basis for preserving our longstanding friendship and cooperation going forward.
It consists of:
1. an unprecedented free trade agreement,
2. ambitious cooperation on economic, social, environmental and fisheries issues,
3. a close partnership for citizens’ security,
4. an overarching governance framework.
The Agreement reflects the fact that the UK is leaving the EU’s ecosystem of common rules, supervision and enforcement mechanisms, and can thus no longer enjoy the benefits of membership or the Single Market.
It confers rights and obligations on each party, while fully respecting their regulatory and decision-making autonomy. At the UK’s request, the Agreement does not cover cooperation on foreign policy, external security and defence, even though this was initially foreseen in the Political Declaration. In addition, the Agreement does not cover any decisions relating to equivalences for financial services. Nor does it cover possible decisions pertaining to the adequacy of the UK’s data protection regime, or the assessment of its sanitary and phytosanitary regime for the purpose of listing it as a third country allowed to export food products to the EU. These are and will remain unilateral decisions of the EU and are not subject to negotiation.
Examples of inevitable change on 1 January 2021:

 The free movement of persons will end: UK citizens will no longer have the freedom to work, study, start a business or live in the EU. They will need visas for long-term stays in the EU. Border checks will apply, passports will need to be stamped, and EU pet passports will no longer be valid for UK residents.
 The free movement of goods will end: Customs checks and controls will apply to all UK exports entering the EU. UK agri-food consignments will have to have health certificates and undergo sanitary and phytosanitary controls at Member States’ border inspection posts. This will cost UK businesses time and money.
 The free movement of services will end: UK service providers will no longer benefit from the country-of-origin principle. They will have to comply with the – varying – rules of each Member State, or relocate to the EU if they want to continue operating as they do today. There will be no more mutual recognition of professional qualifications. UK financial services firms will lose their financial services passports.

Below are links to a selection of key documents that explain what is next:

EU-UK Trade and Cooperation Agreement: A new relationship, with big changes – Overview of consequences and benefits

EU-UK Trade and Cooperation Agreement: A new relationship, with big changes – Brochure

EU-UK Relations: From the UK referendum to a new Trade and Cooperation Agreement – Timeline

EU-UK Relations: From the UK referendum to a new Trade and Cooperation Agreement – Infographic

Compliments of the European Commission
IN THIS CONTEXT: Be sure to follow the EACCNY’s announcements on upcoming webinars and thought-leadership articles to learn what Brexit will mean to your company. Members interested in joining the Brexit Working group should reach out to the EACCNY’s Executive Director. We also encourage you to check our our Brexit news section as well as the Brexit Musings podcast series.The post EU-UK Trade and Cooperation Agreement: A new relationship, with big changes – Overview of consequences and benefits first appeared on European American Chamber of Commerce New York [EACCNY] | Your Partner for Transatlantic Business Resources.

The Commission has proposed today an ambitious reform of the digital space, a comprehensive set of new rules for all digital services, including social media, online market places, and other online platforms that operate in the European Union: the Digital Services Act and the Digital Markets Act.
European values are at the heart of both proposals. The new rules will better protect consumers and their fundamental rights online, and will lead to fairer and more open digital markets for everyone. A modern rulebook across the single market will foster innovation, growth and competitiveness and will provide users with new, better and reliable online services. It will also support the scaling up of smaller platforms, small and medium-sized enterprises, and start-ups, providing them with easy access to customers across the whole single market while lowering compliance costs. Furthermore, the new rules will prohibit unfair conditions imposed by online platforms that have become or are expected to become gatekeepers to the single market. The two proposals are at the core of the Commission’s ambition to make this Europe’s Digital Decade.
Margrethe Vestager, Executive Vice-President for a Europe fit for the Digital Age, said: “The two proposals serve one purpose: to make sure that we, as users, have access to a wide choice of safe products and services online. And that businesses operating in Europe can freely and fairly compete online just as they do offline. This is one world. We should be able to do our shopping in a safe manner and trust the news we read. Because what is illegal offline is equally illegal online.”
Commissioner for Internal Market Thierry Breton said: “Many online platforms have come to play a central role in the lives of our citizens and businesses, and even our society and democracy at large. With today’s proposals, we are organising our digital space for the next decades. With harmonised rules, ex ante obligations, better oversight, speedy enforcement, and deterrent sanctions, we will ensure that anyone offering and using digital services in Europe benefits from security, trust, innovation and business opportunities.”
Digital Services Act
The landscape of digital services is significantly different today from 20 years ago, when the eCommerce Directive was adopted. Online intermediaries have become vital players in the digital transformation. Online platforms in particular have created significant benefits for consumers and innovation, have facilitated cross-border trading within and outside the Union, as well as opened up new opportunities to a variety of European businesses and traders. At the same time, they can be used as a vehicle for disseminating illegal content, or selling illegal goods or services online. Some very large players have emerged as quasi-public spaces for information sharing and online trade. They have become systemic in nature and pose particular risks for users’ rights, information flows and public participation.
Under the Digital Services Act, binding EU-wide obligations will apply to all digital services that connect consumers to goods, services, or content, including new procedures for faster removal of illegal content as well as comprehensive protection for users’ fundamental rights online. The new framework will rebalance the rights and responsibilities of users, intermediary platforms, and public authorities and is based on European values – including the respect of human rights, freedom, democracy, equality and the rule of law. The proposal complements the European Democracy Action Plan aiming at making democracies more resilient.
Concretely, the Digital Services Act will introduce a series of new, harmonised EU-wide obligations for digital services, carefully graduated on the basis of those services’ size and impact, such as:

Rules for the removal of illegal goods, services or content online;
Safeguards for users whose content has been erroneously deleted by platforms;
New obligations for very large platforms to take risk-based action to prevent abuse of their systems;
Wide-ranging transparency measures, including on online advertising and on the algorithms used to recommend content to users;
New powers to scrutinize how platforms work, including by facilitating access by researchers to key platform data;
New rules on traceability of business users in online market places, to help track down sellers of illegal goods or services;
An innovative cooperation process among public authorities to ensure effective enforcement across the single market.

Platforms that reach more than 10% of the EU’s population (45 million users) are considered systemic in nature, and are subject not only to specific obligations to control their own risks, but also to a new oversight structure. This new accountability framework will be comprised of a board of national Digital Services Coordinators, with special powers for the Commission in supervising very large platforms including the ability to sanction them directly.
Digital Markets Act
The Digital Markets Act addresses the negative consequences arising from certain behaviours by platforms acting as digital “gatekeepers” to the single market. These are platforms that have a significant impact on the internal market, serve as an important gateway for business users to reach their customers, and which enjoy, or will foreseeably enjoy, an entrenched and durable position. This can grant them the power to act as private rule-makers and to function as bottlenecks between businesses and consumers. Sometimes, such companies have control over entire platform ecosystems. When a gatekeeper engages in unfair business practices, it can prevent or slow down valuable and innovative services of its business users and competitors from reaching the consumer. Examples of these practices include the unfair use of data from businesses operating on these platforms, or situations where users are locked in to a particular service and have limited options for switching to another one.
The Digital Markets Act builds on the horizontal Platform to Business Regulation, on the findings of the EU Observatory on the Online Platform Economy, and on the Commission’s extensive experience in dealing with online markets through competition law enforcement. In particular, it sets out harmonised rules defining and prohibiting those unfair practices by gatekeepers and providing an enforcement mechanism based on market investigations. The same mechanism will ensure that the obligations set out in the regulation are kept up-to-date in the constantly evolving digital reality.
Concretely, the Digital Markets Act will:

Apply only to major providers of the core platform services most prone to unfair practices, such as search engines, social networks or online intermediation services, which meet the objective legislative criteria to be designated as gatekeepers;
Define quantitative thresholds as a basis to identify presumed gatekeepers. The Commission will also have powers to designate companies as gatekeepers following a market investigation;
Prohibit a number of practices which are clearly unfair, such as blocking users from un-installing any pre-installed software or apps;
Require gatekeepers to proactively put in place certain measures, such as targeted measures allowing the software of third parties to properly function and interoperate with their own services;
Impose sanctions for non-compliance, which could include fines of up to 10% of the gatekeeper’s worldwide turnover, to ensure the effectiveness of the new rules. For recurrent infringers, these sanctions may also involve the obligation to take structural measures, potentially extending to divestiture of certain businesses, where no other equally effective alternative measure is available to ensure compliance;
Allow the Commission to carry out targeted market investigations to assess whether new gatekeeper practices and services need to be added to these rules, in order to ensure that the new gatekeeper rules keep up with the fast pace of digital markets.

Next steps
The European Parliament and the Member States will discuss the Commission’s proposals in the ordinary legislative procedure. If adopted, the final text will be directly applicable across the European Union.
Background
The Digital Services Act and the Digital Markets Act are the European answer to the deep reflection process in which the Commission, EU Member States and many other jurisdictions have engaged in recent years to understand the effects that digitalisation – and more specifically online platforms – have on fundamental rights, competition, and, more generally, on our societies and economies.
The Commission consulted a wide range of stakeholders in preparation of this legislative package. During the summer of 2020, the Commission consulted stakeholders to further support the work in analysing and collecting evidence for scoping the specific issues that that may require an EU-level intervention in the context of the Digital Services Act and the New Competition Tool, which served as basis for the proposal on the Digital Markets Act. The open public consultations in preparation of today’s package, which ran from June 2020 to September 2020, received more than 3000 replies from the whole spectrum of the digital economy and from all over the world. 
For More Information
Questions and Answers on the Digital Services Act
Questions and Answers on the Digital Markets Act
Facts page: The Digital Services Act
Facts page: The Digital Markets Act
Results of the public consultation on the Digital Services Act
Results of the public consultation on a New Competition Tool
Website on antitrust procedures
European Democracy Action Plan
Political Guidelines of President von der Leyen
Brochure – How do online platforms shape our lives and businesses?

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Madame President, Ladies and Gentlemen,
Thank you for this new opportunity to take stock of this very long and extraordinary negotiation that I have the honor to lead on behalf of the Commission and on your behalf for more than four years now. Together, with your Parliament and the Council, we have already succeeded in enabling an orderly withdrawal of the United Kingdom, as it wished. It is for this withdrawal agreement that Maroš Šefčovič has just spoken of, that I would like to thank personally, and in front of you, for his tenacity and the efficiency with which he and our teams have succeeded in specifying all the concrete and operational modalities so that this Treaty, ratified last year by your Parliament and the British Parliament, be implemented in due time – as is normal and necessary for peace in Ireland, the economy of the whole island and the protection of the internal market. What I’m here to tell you about is our second negotiation.
Beyond its exit from the European Union, it is a question of knowing whether the United Kingdom will leave in ten days, the single market and the customs union with an agreement or without an agreement. We are at the moment of truth. We have very little time left, a few useful hours in this negotiation, if we want this agreement to enter into force on January 1.
As our President Ursula von der Leyen told you two days ago here, the possibility of an agreement is there, I think as a negotiator, but the road is very narrow. Now is the time to make decisions. It is also the moment for everyone to take responsibility. For my part, I will take mine – as I have always done throughout my public engagement – in accordance with the mandate that was set for me by the 27 Member States of the European Union and which was supported and confirmed by the vast majority of political groups here in the European Parliament, through your resolutions.
Today I would like to recall three fundamental elements of this negotiation. It was the British who set this very short deadline to which we are now forced, by refusing in June any form of extension of the transition period. What it is about is an extraordinary negotiation, carried out in 9 months, as never we have had in the past – never – on so many subjects, which are at the heart of your resolutions and our mandate.
Even if we regret that the British did not want to go further, through an agreement, which we were ready to negotiate, on foreign policy, defense and cooperation. It’s their choice. It takes two to negotiate and to reach an agreement. But we have nevertheless covered a considerable field. On virtually every subject, we have sought to establish new cooperation with the UK, in other forms, in a new framework, in areas where we have for 47 years worked and acted together under the Union. And that is why this partnership is unprecedented.
Both by the time of negotiation – I would remind you that it took 4 or 5 years to negotiate an even more modest agreement with Canada, or with Japan – and by the scope of the subjects dealt with. Finally, in such an agreement, it is our mandate, it is your resolution, all the parties form a cohesive whole. There is no agreement on anything, as long as there is no agreement on everything. (“Nothing is agreed until everything is agreed.”) It is therefore not surprising that in the last hours when we find also concentrated the very great difficulties of the negotiation, the most difficult and hard points. The British have set since the start of these negotiations, and this is even the reason for Brexit, a fundamental requirement: they want to regain their sovereignty. We have always respected this requirement, because it is the very purpose of Brexit.
At the same time, the British must respect the sovereignty of the Member States of the European Union. They must respect the fact that this Union of 27 Member States, which functions democratically on a voluntary basis and under the control and impulse of your Parliament, is founded on values, common policies, an economic and social foundation which is the single market, which is more of an ecosystem than a free trade area, and that we ask to preserve these values, these principles and this single market. We want open and ambitious trade and economic cooperation. But it must also be fair and equitable. Free and fair. It must therefore be based on a “level playing field”. I prefer to say fair competition, fair competition. Fair competition rules and high standards in terms of the environment, climate and social standards.
If the UK wishes to diverge in the future, that is its right. But this cannot be without consequences when it comes to having access to our market without tariffs and without quotas. With regard to fishing, the United Kingdom also wishes to regain its sovereignty, to be able to control access to its waters. As I just said, we accept it and we respect it. But if the United Kingdom wants, after a period of credible and sufficient adjustment, to be able to cut off access to its waters at any time, the European Union must also have a sovereign right to react or to compensate.
By then adjusting the conditions of access to its market for all products, and in particular for fishery products, and this is where one of the major current difficulties in negotiation is found. It would be neither fair nor acceptable for European fishermen to have only transitional rights in UK waters, which one day evaporated, while everything else in the deal – especially for UK companies – would remain stable. It would not be fair or just. These are the main points that separate us today. Of course, there are many other very important dimensions in the partnership that we have negotiated.
I am thinking of a very broad economic cooperation through an ambitious free trade agreement, unique and such as we have never offered to a third country, which includes market access without tariffs and without quotas, with credible rules in terms of level playing field. I am thinking of connectivity in air and road transport, and in energy. Or even cooperation in the field of social security. I am also thinking of our partnership on internal security, where we have a common interest in the protection of our citizens.
That is why we have already agreed on close cooperation in eight specific areas: Europol, Eurojust, Prüm, extradition, exchange of information on criminal registers as well as the freezing and confiscation of criminal records. active. And this cooperation is based on two prerequisites: respect for fundamental rights, in particular as they are enshrined in the European Convention on Human Rights, and the protection of personal data. This is where we are.
The points which remain open in these crucial hours are fundamental points for the Union. Because we are asking for nothing more than a balance between rights and obligations, and reciprocity when it comes to access to water and to markets. Nothing more, but nothing less.
While it is obvious that we want an agreement, it is just as obvious as this agreement, we will not do it at any cost. As I speak to you, I cannot tell you what will be the outcome of this final straight line of negotiations. We need to be prepared for all scenarios. And that is why you will vote today on contingency measures to prepare us for a possible no deal. On this point, I would like to thank you, thank the European Parliament for its speed and its availability to adopt these measures very quickly, which will allow their entry into force without delay, if there is no agreement, January 1 next. And tell you that we are working in parallel to quickly operationalize the new Brexit Adjustment Reserve.
On leaving you, as the President asked me yesterday, I will resume negotiations with David Frost and his team for a final attempt to find an acceptable agreement, in particular on the question of fisheries. We are not sure that we will achieve this if everyone does not make a real and concrete effort to find a compromise. Once again, I thank you for your trust and support which has never been denied since the beginning of our common journey.
This confidence is based on a method that I proposed from day one and which was supported by President Jean-Claude Juncker and then by President Ursula von der Leyen, which is that of dialogue and permanent transparency. I know there are additional requests. We are trying to answer them. There is also the general balance of this agreement which is not finished. I have tried, our services, the team of the Task Force, to be as available as possible to provide you with the elements you need throughout this long negotiation. I think that is the reason for the trust that you have always shown in me, for which I want to thank you. I know and I understand the constraints which are yours for the democratic examination to which you are entitled and which is normal. I was a member of your assembly and I was a national parliamentarian for a very long time. This democratic question is at the heart of this negotiation which must be known, detailed and approved by national parliaments and the European Parliament.
Economic actors must also have the means to appropriate it. There is a much more important stake than the only relation between the European Union and the United Kingdom; it is the European project that is in question.
Throughout this negotiation, I kept in mind three points of perspective and reference.
> The first point is peace in Ireland. It was a fundamental point, and it remains a fundamental point, for me. And that is why I thank Maros Šefčovič for the work that has been done to ensure the conditions for this stability in Ireland.
> Second point, obviously, I was mandated to defend the interests of the Union, the single market, consumers, citizens and businesses.
> Third point: beyond Brexit, the UK is a great country that we respect, a partner country, neighbor, friend, ally, with which we must have, one way or another – if not It’s not today, because we don’t come to an agreement, it would be later – a strong and extremely ambitious bond.

That is the whole point of this negotiation, hence the serious, very serious moment at which we find ourselves for its possible conclusion.

Compliments of the European Commission
The post Speech by Michel Barnier in plenary session of the European Parliament Today first appeared on European American Chamber of Commerce New York [EACCNY] | Your Partner for Transatlantic Business Resources.

Main results – Fisheries
2021 fishing opportunities
Ministers agreed the catch limits for over 200 commercial fish stocks in the Atlantic, the North Sea, the Mediterranean and the Black Sea for 2021. More than 100 of these stocks in the Atlantic and North Sea have been co-managed with the UK during the last decades. Given the ongoing EU-UK negotiations on their future relationship, ministers agreed to set provisional quotas for the fish stocks shared with the UK. The provisional quotas are designed to ensure the continuation of sustainable fishing in the concerned areas until consultations with the UK are concluded. A similar approach was agreed for the stocks co-managed with Norway.

The agreements reached during the last two days showcase how we can go beyond set expectations. It was not easy to agree on fish catch limits in the context of Brexit and COVID-19 but I firmly believe that we now have the best possible plan in place. It was challenging to reconcile the many divergent views on front-of-pack nutritional labelling but I am convinced we sent a solid political message supported by the vast majority of member states. And we also received overwhelming support for an EU-wide animal welfare label. Setting and achieving ambitious targets has been our guiding principle throughout the last six months and I think that another concrete example is the Council’s position for a more environmentally friendly common agricultural policy. I am proud of our achievements and I am confident that the incoming Portuguese presidency will follow up on them.
Julia Klöckner, Germany’s Federal Minister of Food and Agriculture and the president of the Council

Compliments of the Council of the EU.
The post Agriculture and Fisheries Council, 15-16 December 2020 first appeared on European American Chamber of Commerce New York [EACCNY] | Your Partner for Transatlantic Business Resources.