Agenda item

Brexit End of Transition Arrangements Impact

Minutes:

 

Councillor Evans, OBE (Leader), Giles Perritt (Assistant Chief Executive) and Kevin McKenzie (Policy and Intelligence Advisor) presented the report.

 

The report provided a summary and analysis of the key parts of the Trade and Cooperation Agreement (TCA) negotiated between the UK and EU.  Given the far reaching scope of this agreement, the report had been focussed to address those areas of the greatest interest to local stakeholders which included transport, fisheries and other arrangements.

 

The report highlighted that –

 

(a)

the Trade Cooperation Agreement (TCA) established zero tariffs or quotas on trade between the UK and the EU, where goods met the relevant rules of origin; this meant that as the UK left the Single Market and Customs Union, UK businesses and consumers would not have to face the economically damaging consequences of tariffs on 1 January 2021 that would have resulted from no-deal;

 

 

(b)

given that the Millbay Ferry terminal would recommence sailings in March 2021, it would be important that the Council picked up on operational experiences of other ports over the next three months, to ensure that the city was ready to meet the demands that were likely to arise, including potential requirement for HGV transit facilities;

 

 

(c)

the agreement extended the coverage of the World Trade Organisation Agreement on Government Procurement (GPA) to include sectors such as hospitality, telecoms, property and education; whilst GPA was seen as a measure to promote trade liberalisation, it imposed an additional administration burden on the public sector; the additional bureaucracy required served as a disincentive to Small and Medium-sized Enterprises (SMEs) and limited the use of public procurement as a tool to stimulate the local economy;

 

 

(d)

whilst the TCA did include some important agreements on data and digital trade, it fundamentally changed the way in which the UK’s services sector would be able to export into the EU; the sector would need to adapt rapidly to a country by country, service by service patchwork of market access requirements;

 

 

(e)

the UK had reclaimed some aspects of its sovereignty that it had shared with the EU for the last 40 years but in doing so the UK had weakened its trading links with its closest trading partners and this would have a significant negative impact on the country’s future economic growth; economists’ estimates ranged from around 5% over the next 10 years.

 

For the reasons set out in the report Cabinet agreed to endorse the asks of Government –

 

(1)

to explain how it would deliver on its promise to level up regional economies, setting out in detail how -

 

 

 

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local businesses, especially SMEs, would be supported to adapt to new regulatory barriers to trade between EU and the UK now that the UK had left the Single Market;

 

 

 

 

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Government policies around investment in the fishing fleet and quayside facilities would reflect developing economic link proposals ensuring sustainable economic benefits to the city’s community and its fishing industry;

 

 

 

 

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the UK Shared Prosperity Fund and other funding mechanisms would mitigate the loss of EU structural and other funds to the city, the Heart of South West LEP area and the wider South West peninsula.

 

Supporting documents: