BRUSSELS VISIT
I recently travelled to Brussels with a contingent from the BEIS select committee. This was part of our enquiry on State Aid and Competition policy.
We had meetings with the Ambassador and the UK mission staff and discussed competition and industrial policy and bi lateral trade policies. These were followed by meetings with the Director General for Competition and later the Chief Executive of the European Policy Centre at the British Residence.
We met with the Chair of the EU-UK delegation and the vice chair of the Committee on International Trade (INTA) to discuss the EU-UK Trade and Cooperation Agreement (TCA) implementation before a visit to the European Parliament. We then went to the UK mission to meet members of the British Chamber of Commerce. After lunch we met representatives from Make UK, an organisation focused on creating the most supportive environment for UK manufacturers to thrive, innovate and compete, before meeting a delegation from the Swiss Embassy and finishing with a discussion with the policy leads for some key initiatives.
The discussions gave many different perspectives on areas like how trade was affected post Brexit but also how difficult discussions, like the Northern Ireland protocol, can frustrate progress in other areas. It was also interesting to talk to the Swiss as they, like the UK, are not part of the EU.
