After five years of implementation, the Trade and Cooperation Agreement (TCA) signed between the EU and the United Kingdom “has proven to be a robust and effective foundation for EU–United Kingdom relations, the implementation of which has progressed well overall”, said the European Commission on Thursday 23 April in a report that examined the first half of 2025.
“The issues identified in this report represent exceptions, considering the breadth and depth of cooperation established under the TCA”, it concludes.
The Commission’s assessment confirms that, five years after its implementation, the agreement provides a stable, predictable and mutually beneficial framework, which will be further strengthened by the new agreements envisaged as part of the deal reached in May 2025 at the relaunch of EU-London relations.
With regard to trade in goods, the report notes that “overall, the trade-related arrangements set out in the TCA have been effective and functioned well. In accordance with Article 31 of the CA, the EU and the United-Kingdom exchanged import statistics. These show that approximately 39.5% of EU exports to the United Kingdom and 48.5% of EU imports from the United Kingdom were eligible for preferential treatment under the trade agreement”.
The remaining trade flows concerned tariff lines that were already duty-free on a Most Favoured Nation (MFN) basis.
Over this period, the EU recorded a substantial trade surplus in goods with the UK, amounting to €188 billion. Exports of goods from the EU to the UK reached €346 billion, up 0.8% compared to 2024. Imports of goods from the UK totalled €159 billion, down 3.1% compared to 2024.
The sectors with the strongest growth in EU exports to the UK were agri-foodstuffs (+3.5%), raw materials (+3.3%) and chemicals and related products (+3.3%). Only the mineral fuels category fell (-2.5%). On the import side, agri-food products (+3.8%) and raw materials (+4.1%) rose, while imports of other categories of goods declined.
“Compared to other non-EU countries, EU trade in goods with the United Kingdom was less dynamic”. However, the UK remained the second most important destination for EU exports, receiving 13.1% of total EU goods exports, compared to 13.3% in 2024, after the United States (20.9%).
Problems with visas. Implementation of the trade agreement in the areas of services and investment, digital trade, intellectual property, public procurement and small and medium-sized enterprises has also generally gone smoothly, “with the exception of persistent problems related to the United Kingdom’s sponsorship system for visas applied to EU service providers who are covered by the TCA”.
Since 2022, the EU has consistently “raised concerns within the TCA joint bodies about the system’s complexity, disproportionate burden, and lack of clarity. The sponsorship requirement continues to hinder the effective implementation of the TCA for EU service suppliers, as reflected by the issuance of only 49 visas in the first nine months of 2025 to EU nationals under the Service Supplier route, which covers EU Independent Professionals and Contractual Service Suppliers”, the report explains.
In 2025, six claims were submitted using the tools set up by the agreement. Only two complaints concerned the implementation of the TCA. An arbitration procedure initiated by the EU on 25 October 2024 related to the UK’s decision to ban sandeel fishing in its waters from 26 March 2024 and was concluded on 28 April 2025 in favour of the EU.
Link to the communication: https://aeur.eu/f/lnm (Original version in French by Solenn Paulic)