LONDON, March 24 (KUNA) -- The European Union and the United Kingdom have held the tenth meeting of the Withdrawal Agreement Joint Committee and second meeting of the Trade and Cooperation Agreement Partnership Council in London.
The meetings took place in a constructive atmosphere building on the excellent cooperation between the Foreign Secretary James Cleverly and the Vice-President Moras Sefcovic over recent months, a Foreign Office statement said.
The Joint Committee welcomed the positive approach of both sides and adopted the new arrangements set out in the Windsor Framework.
These arrangements address, in a definitive manner, challenges in the operation of the Protocol on Ireland/Northern Ireland over the last two years and the everyday issues faced by people and businesses in Northern Ireland, while supporting and protecting the Good Friday or Belfast Agreement in all its parts.
The arrangements protect the integrity of the European Union's Single Market, and Northern Ireland's place in the United Kingdom's internal market.
Both sides agreed to work together intensively and faithfully to implement all elements of the Windsor Framework. The United Kingdom and European Union also reaffirmed their intent to use all available mechanisms in the Framework to address and jointly resolve any relevant future issues that may emerge.
At the Partnership Council, the parties discussed implementation of the TCA and cooperation in a range of crucial areas including energy, trade and security and agreed on next steps.
Energy: They underlined the importance of collaboration over the past year as Europe decouples from Russian fossil fuels and highlighted the importance of dialogue on security of supply. They confirmed their commitment to progress work on the electricity trading arrangements envisaged in the TCA. They also discussed the EU Green Deal Industrial Plan.
Trade: They looked forward to the signing of Memoranda of Understanding on financial services and on intellectual property soon. They agreed to finalise preparation for the Working Groups in the areas of Technical Barriers to Trade as a matter of priority. They also discussed the UK Retained EU Law Bill and Bill of Rights Bill.
Security: They noted the close collaboration in support of Ukraine, and looked forward to dialogue provided for under the TCA in the areas of cybersecurity and counterterrorism. They also discussed the implementation of data protection safeguards for Passenger Name Records.(end) nbs.rk