EJIL article on UK’s Trade Continuity Agreements
The latest issue of the European Journal of International Law features an article written by Dr Joris Larik entitled 'Imitation as Flattery: The UK’s Trade Continuity Agreements and the EU’s Normative Foreign Policy'.
The article analyses the United Kingdom’s Trade Continuity programme in the wake of Brexit and is available with open access.
The promise that once the UK had left the European Union (EU), it would strike new, lucrative trade deals continues to feature prominently in Brexiteers’ narrative. First, however, the UK was compelled to conclude rollover agreements that would replace previous trade agreements with the EU. In the article, Larik argues that, contrary to expectations, the UK’s Trade Continuity programme should be considered a success for both the UK and the EU. In most cases, the UK managed to replicate the terms originally granted to the EU despite the smaller market and challenging circumstances. From the EU’s perspective, the UK’s Trade Continuity programme may be regarded as a case of successful norm internalisation and export. This initial chapter of post-Brexit UK trade policy shows that even once a country has left the EU, the country and its partners are still legally bound to the EU’s norms and values.