Brexit - new EU-UK partnership: where do we stand?

The United Kingdom left the European Union on 31 January 2020. In 2020 the EU and the UK reached an agreement on their new partnership. It sets out the rules that apply between the EU and the UK as of 1 January 2021.

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New rules for the EU and the UK

The EU and UK negotiators reached an agreement on 24 December 2020. This agreement sets out the rules on the new partnership between the EU and UK that apply from 2021. The rules cover areas such as:

  • travel and border controls
  • trade in goods, such as flowers and food
  • security, such as agreements on cooperation to combat crime and terrorism.

Read more about the new EU-UK partnership in documents from the European Commission.

European Parliament approves agreement

On 27 April 2021 the European Parliament approved the EU-UK Trade and Cooperation Agreement. The parliament's approval was needed in order to ensure the agreement entered in to force on 1 May. To minimise disruption, the agreement already provisionally entered into force on 1 January 2021. This why the rules on cooperation changed earlier. 

Brexit timeline

Key dates in the Brexit negotiations between the UK and the EU: