The transition period ended on 31 December 2020. Since that date, trade volumes have been suppressed by the impact of COVID-19, EU exit, and wider global pressures. It may not be possible to separate out the impact of these individual elements on the UK’s trade with the EU, but it is clear that EU exit has had an impact, and that new border arrangements have added costs to business.

The introduction of a new regulatory and customs border has made it more difficult and more expensive to trade with the EU. This impacts UK firms who import and export from and to that market.

The EU Goods Sub-Committee publishes its report on what the EU-UK Trade and Cooperation Agreement (TCA) means for trade in goods.

Preparing Brexit: How ready is the UK? is our second report examining government and business preparations for the end of the transition period, building on Preparing Brexit: The scale of the task left for UK government and business, published in July.

39th Report of Session 2017-19 - published 21 May 2019 - HL Paper 355

Even if the European Union and the United Kingdom conclude a highly ambitious partnership covering all areas agreed in the Political Declaration by the end of 2020, the United Kingdom’s withdrawal from the EU acquis, the internal market and the Customs Union, at the end of the transition period will inevitably create barriers to trade and cross-border exchanges that do not exist today.

This Communication explains the measures that the Commission adopted today, 19 December 2018, in response to that call, together with other crucial steps in the implementation of its Contingency Action Plan.

A Brexit briefing for non-specialists