Revision of trade relations between the United Kingdom and the European Union

Last Monday, May 19, a long-awaited political summit took place in London. A broad agreement was reached on the revision of trade relations between the United Kingdom and the European Union after Brexit. In the months leading up to the summit, Royal FloraHolland worked hard together with Union Fleurs and the VGB to represent the interests of the Dutch floriculture sector. Aileen de Witte, lobbyist at Royal FloraHolland, talks about the next steps in this agreement.

"Brexit has cost the export of flowers and plants millions in border controls and phytosanitary certificates. With the conclusion of a Sanitary and Phytosanitary (SPS) agreement, these trade barriers can now be removed. The agreement that has now been reached stipulates that phytosanitary standards will be harmonized and additional controls will become unnecessary.

To achieve this SPS agreement, we in the floriculture sector have consistently made our position clear to the European Commission, the European Parliament, and the Council. A lot of hard work has gone into reaching this point. Even so, it is still somewhat surreal that the outcome of this first ‘summit’ is so unequivocally positive. A success!

Now there will be a period during which the legislation will pass through the British Parliament, where there is room for amendments. Fortunately, the Labour Party still has a large majority in Parliament, so minimal influence from ‘Brexiters’ is expected to reduce this closer cooperation between the European Union and the United Kingdom. On the European side, too, further work needs to be done on the details of this SPS agreement. There are still many questions, but this is a positive start for further negotiations. With Labour now in charge, it is high time to put Brexit in the rearview mirror!