The European Commissioner for Financial Services, Mairead McGuinness, and the British Chancellor of the Exchequer, Jeremy Hunt, signed, On Tuesday 27 June, the Memorandum of Understanding establishing a framework for financial services regulatory cooperation between the EU and the United Kingdom (see EUROPE 13184/36).
“I think it’s fair to say we’ve turned a page in our relationship, based on the Windsor framework. (...) This has allowed us to move forward in a spirit of partnership, based on trust, cooperation, and delivering benefits for people on both sides”, commented Ms McGuinness.
“As Europe’s largest financial services provider, we need to work closely with the EU to ensure stability. This is not the end, but the beginning of a process which, through dialogue, will bring us closer together and make a difference on both sides”, said Mr Hunt.
In concrete terms, this new protocol provides for the establishment of a forum involving the European Commission’s Directorate General for Financial Stability, Financial Services and Capital Markets (DG Fisma) and the UK’s HM Treasury, which is responsible for the development and implementation of public finances and economic policies.
“While the UK is no longer in the EU or indeed in the Single Market, we still share many of the same issues and challenges like fighting financial crime, supporting sustainable finance, and enabling digital finance”, added the Financial Services Commissioner.
Discussions will be held twice a year as part of the future forum. For the time being, cooperation between the EU and the UK will be confined to exchanges of information and coordination on the positions to be adopted and the common priorities to be defended at major international meetings.
Cooperation on financial services has remained complicated since Brexit. These were not included in the UK’s Trade and Cooperation Agreement with the EU, because the EU had refused to accept mutual recognition of UK financial services laws, meaning that UK-based companies could not move their services into the EU.
To see the document: https://aeur.eu/f/7rs (Original version in French by Thomas Mangin)