(1 October 2019) The significance of a level playing field in the future EU-UK relationship post-Brexit emerged during the hearing of Commissioner-designate for trade, Phil Hogan.
Danuta Maria Hübner, Polish EPP Member of the European Parliament, raised the importance of ensuring a level playing field and common cross-borders standards. According to Hübner, this would be particularly important when taking into account the proximity and the size of the UK, as well as the current UK government’s position on regulatory divergence. She alluded this should be treated as a red line by the EU.
Phil Hogan praised the Withdrawal Agreement as a balanced one, with reassuring provisions on the level playing field and standards varying from environment to state aid. He also presumes such a framework should be included in the negotiation mandate for the future agreement. Hogan expects the European Parliament to have its say over such a mandate.