14.

Stresses that, for an FTA to truly promote the EU’s interests, the following objectives should be included in the negotiating directives: (i) a level playing field is to be guaranteed through robust commitments and enforceable provisions on competition and state aid, relevant tax matters (including the fight against tax evasion, avoidance and money laundering), full respect of the social and labour standards (including equivalent levels of protection and safeguards against social dumping), environmental protection and climate change related standards, promotion of the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals, a high-level protection of consumers and sustainable development; the provisions should ensure that standards are not lowered, while empowering both parties to modify commitments over time to lay down higher standards or include additional areas; commitments and provisions should be enforceable by autonomous interim measures, a solid dispute settlement mechanism and remedies, with a view to dynamic alignment; (ii) reciprocal arrangement for mutually beneficial market access for goods, services, public procurement, recognition of professional qualifications and where relevant foreign direct investment to be negotiated in full compliance with World Trade Organisation (WTO) rules; (iii) commitment by both parties to continue working together for strong rules based free and fair trade in international fora, with a view to achieving effective multilateralism; (iv) while striving for the widest possible trade in goods, the Commission should evaluate possible quotas and tariffs for the most sensitive sectors as well as the need for safeguard clauses to protect the integrity of the EU single market; reiterates, moreover, that for instance with respect to food and agricultural products access to the single market is conditional on strict compliance with all EU law and standards, particularly in the fields of food safety, genetically modified organisms (GMOs), pesticides, geographical indications, animal welfare, labelling and traceability, sanitary and phytosanitary (SPS) standards, and human, animal and plant health; (v) rules of origin should mirror the most recent EU FTAs and be based on the interests of EU producers; the Agreement should safeguard the framework of existing commercial relationships between the EU and third countries and avoid any free-riding by ensuring consistency in keeping a tuned tariff and quota system and rules of origin for products vis-à-vis third countries; (vi) commitments on anti-dumping and countervailing measures could go beyond WTO rules in this area, as appropriate; (vii) commitments on services should be made with the aim of delivering a level of liberalisation in trade in services well beyond the parties’ WTO commitments, building on recent EU FTAs, while safeguarding the high quality of the EU’s public services in accordance with the TFEU and in particular Protocol 26 on Services of General Interest; in addition, audio-visual services should be excluded from provisions related to liberalisation; reiterates that under an FTA market access for services is limited and always subject to exclusions, reservations and exceptions; all modes of supply of services should be covered, including commitments on the movement of natural persons across borders (Mode 4) and provisions, linked to EU rules and the respect for equal treatment of workers and recognition of professional qualifications; the arrangements should include provisions on market access and national treatment under host state rules to ensure that EU service providers are treated in a non-discriminatory manner, including with regard to establishment; the new arrangements should allow for the temporary entry and stay of natural persons for business purposes with the aim of providing services; (viii) there should be opportunities for access to public procurement markets beyond WTO Government Procurement Agreement (GPA) commitments, guaranteeing market access for EU companies in strategic sectors and a degree of openness equal to EU’s public procurement markets; (ix) strong and enforceable measures covering the recognition and protection of intellectual property rights, including geographical indications (GIs), such as copyright and related rights, trademarks, based on the current and future EU legal framework; (x) the agreement should confirm the protection of existing GIs, as provided for in the Withdrawal Agreement, and establish a mechanism for the protection of future GIs, ensuring the same level of protection as that provided for by the Withdrawal Agreement; (xi) an ambitious chapter on trade and gender equality should be included; the consequences of the UK’s withdrawal from the EU on gender equality should be taken into account, including by ensuring a level-playing field for EU actions protecting and advancing the role of women in economy, for instance in terms of measures combatting the gender pay gap; (xii) an overarching chapter on the needs and interests of micro-enterprises and small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) with regard to market access facilitation issues including, but not limited to, compatibility of technical standards, and streamlined customs procedures with the aim of preserving and generating concrete business opportunities and fostering their internationalisation; (xiii) for a trade agreement to be comprehensive, it must include provisions to ensure continued regulatory alignment of the UK with the EU in the future; in order to facilitate trade, cross-cutting disciplines on regulatory coherence and non-tariff barriers should be negotiated, mindful of the voluntary nature of regulatory cooperation and the right to regulate in the public interests, while preserving the regulatory autonomy and parliamentary rights, and recalling that provisions on regulatory cooperation in a trade agreement cannot fully replicate the same frictionless trade as provided for by membership of the single market; (xiv) in order to safeguard financial and regulatory stability and to ensure the full respect of the EU regulatory regime and standards and their application, prudential carve-out and limitations in the cross-border provisions of financial services are a customary feature of EU trade agreements and should be included in this one; (xv) ambitious provisions allowing for the development of digital trade, and to address unjustified barriers to trade by electronic means, and ensure an open, secure and trustworthy online environment for businesses and consumers, and regulating cross-border data flows, including principles such as fair competition and ambitious rules for cross-border data transfers, in full compliance with, and without prejudice to, the EU’s current and future data protection and privacy rules; (xvi) the FTA would lead to customs checks and verification as soon as goods are entering into the single market, which would affect global supply chains and manufacturing processes; it is necessary to strengthen customs authorities both with regard to personnel and technical equipment, in order to cope with their additional tasks; the operational procedures of the future agreement must be aimed at preserving the rules of the Union’s single market for goods and the customs union; it is therefore of utmost importance to safeguard the compliance of the goods with single market rules; (xvii) regulatory alignment on the market surveillance of products and on robust product standards should be an essential and irreplaceable part of any future agreement with the UK to ensure a level playing field for EU businesses and a high level of protection of EU consumers; (xviii) the integrity of the customs union and its rules and procedures must be preserved; a timely and efficient working arrangement between the EU and the UK in this area should be established;