Brexit – Trade and Cooperation Agreement
The Trade and Cooperation Agreement has been provisionally applied since 1st January 2021. For it to enter into force permanently it needs the consent of the European Union Parliament (See this link).
The European Commission also published a brochure which provides useful information about the many aspects governing the agreement. You can see this brochure here: link.
The Trade and Cooperation Agreement, consists of:
- A free trade agreement;
- Cooperation on economic, social, environmental, and fisheries issues;
- A close partnership for citizens’ security, and
- An overarching governance framework.
As indicated in the information published by the European Commission:
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.
The UK Government has also published guidance information for United Kingdom residents living in Malta. You can follow the link here.
The Government of Malta also has a specific web page on Brexit which you can access here. It also has a dedicated facebook page. Guidance notes on the importation of vehicles from the UK to Malta have for example been published on this page. The Government of Malta has also set up a Brexit helpline: 153, and a specific email: brexit@gov.mt
A number of Maltese Government entities have set up specific pages providing useful information on the many aspects which will affect trade between the United Kingdom, and the European Union. These are the following:
- Customs Department; For those importing or exporting goods to the United Kingdom, it is important to follow this page especially for specific notices which the Department publishes from time to time such as for example the ‘customs import declaration for good originating from the United Kingdom’ (link)
- The Malta Competition and Consumer Affairs Authority;
- The Malta Financial Services Authority.
