In March 2021, Brussels and London reached a memorandum of understanding which was not signed, after a crisis in relations between the two parties, amid changes in trade rules in Northern Ireland, but this file has been resolved. after the European Union and Britain formally adopted another post-war Brexit trade deal, dubbed the “Windsor Framework,” in March.
London is a global financial center of gravity, and it was eagerly awaiting an agreement in the area of financial services, for the European Commission, the executive arm of the European Union, to take the first step, on Wednesday, by approving a draft agreement which must be ratified by the 27 Member States.
Member states can endorse the deal at a meeting of their finance ministers scheduled for June.
But the Commission said the agreement does not address the issue of UK-based companies’ access to the single market and vice versa.
Final ratification of the text will be favorable to Britain, as it would show that the United Kingdom is moving in the right direction with its first trading partner after “Brexit” and the disputes that followed it.
After being signed by Brussels and London, the agreement would form a framework for voluntary regulatory cooperation in financial services between the EU and the UK.
This would include a joint EU-UK financial regulatory forum that would allow regulators from both sides to discuss issues related to financial services.
“The Windsor Framework has enabled the EU and the UK to open a new chapter in our relationship, based on a spirit of mutual trust and cooperation,” said EU Financial Services Commissioner Mered McGuinness.
“I am confident that our relationship and our future engagement in financial services will be based on a shared commitment to preserving financial stability, market integrity, and protecting consumers and investors,” McGuinness added.
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