FIN.

Government urged to reduce barriers to UK-EU services trade

The House of Lords EU Services Sub-Committee has published a report which examines the UK-EU Trade and Cooperation Agreement (TCA) and the future UK-EU relationship on trade in services.

In terms of financial services, the report highlights that the TCA does not include substantive provisions on financial services and notes that the sector is still in a period of uncertainty given the absence of a decision on equivalence. The Committee calls on the government not to disregard the value of a close UK-EU relationship in financial services.

The report also draws conclusions in relation to professional and business services, creative industries, research and education, and digital trade.

The report concludes that there is still much work to be done and stresses that it is in both sides’ mutual interests to ensure that UK-EU services trade continues to flow smoothly.

Lucy Hadrill