‘We need to address the outdated and undemocratic process that the UK currently uses to negotiate trade deals’ says the spring 2020 briefing from Trade Justice Movement.
In this paper, civil society groups are calling for EU-UK trade relations to serve the public interest, protecting our jobs, rights, values, environment and commitments to address the climate emergency.
The briefing finds:
- The UK must secure the new EU-UK relationship before pursuing trade deals with other parties. The EU is by far our largest trading partner, and the right kind of agreement needs to go beyond trade to safeguard the social and environmental protections we share with the EU.
- The UK has woefully inadequate procedures for negotiating and finalising trade deals. Recent progress to improve this has stalled. New efforts are needed to secure trade scrutiny and democracy through legislation.
