The European Parliament will finally vote on Tuesday 27 April in plenary session on the Trade and Cooperation Agreement with the United Kingdom, which provisionally entered into force on 1 January. The European Parliament Conference of Group Chairmen took a decision to this effect on 22 April, although some MEPs are still tempted to play with the timetable, which extends the end of the transitional application period of the agreement to 30 April.
“A point can always be taken away at the last minute”, observes a source, “for example if the Commission comes and tells us that the situation has deteriorated further with the UK”, notably on the issue of the Northern Ireland protocol, although this scenario seems unlikely.
However, in some groups such as Renew Europe, there is still a clear expectation of concrete gestures from London, such as the hiring of customs officers. And we need to be sure that the philosophy of the protocol, which provides for controls in the Irish Sea, is “respected”, says our source, and this message will be passed on in the political resolution.
On Thursday, all groups supported putting the vote on the agenda, which will take the form of a recommendation to adopt the agreement and a political resolution. The agreement is expected to be widely supported, as the vote in the International Trade and Foreign Affairs Committees was already very favourable, with 108 votes in favour, 1 against and 4 abstentions (see EUROPE 12699/1). (Original version in French by Solenn Paulic with Mathieu Bion)