Review of the UK EU Trade and Cooperation Agreement Inquiry

The RSE welcomes this opportunity to provide written evidence to the Constitution, Europe, External Affairs and Culture Committee (CEEAC) Committee inquiry into the trading relationship between the EU and UK within the context of the forthcoming TCA review. This submission will focus on issues relating to AI.

Download the RSE policy advice paper, Review of the UK EU Trade and Cooperation Agreement Inquiry (405KB, PDF)

Executive summary

The RSE argues that the UK faces difficult choices. Two regulatory regimes are likely to be globally significant: the USA and the European Union. The UK faces a choice between

• aligning with the USA;
• aligning with the EU;
• mixing elements of both regimes and making its own choices.

This choice may be governed by wider political considerations, such as a preference to get closer to the EU generally, or to exploit the opportunity provided by Brexit to act independently.

It will also be governed by a political preference for a liberal or laissez-faire approach, stressing innovation and market opportunities, and a more regulatory approach, stressing consumer protection and social and environmental protections.

The US inclines to the former and the EU to the latter. Any UK-EU reset in relations will offer substantial opportunities for a better trading relationship in relation to AI in sectors such as security and defence, compute, the green economy, and intellectual property.

However, alignment with one bloc also implies costs associated with trading access in the other direction. The UK may wish to pursue a pathway that bridges between the EU and US models by developing a productive pathway that balances innovation and risk through smart regulation.

However, as a small country, this approach will only work if the UK can bring others in the same direction. The RSE believes a priority for the UK should be to participate in and influence regulatory developments as a stakeholder, even if this does not translate into formal alignment.

Download the policy advice

RSE policy advice paper, Review of the UK EU Trade and Cooperation Agreement Inquiry (405KB, PDF)