Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:

To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what assessment he has made of the effect of the provisions on short-term travel for UK service exporters in the UK-EU Trade and Cooperation Agreement on the ability for service providers to do business in the EU.

The UK-EU Trade & Co-operation Agreement (TCA) contains provisions on the entry and temporary stay of natural persons for business purposes (Mode IV), similar to the EU’s best precedent reached with Canada and Japan, with some improvements.

We have always been clear that Freedom of Movement between the UK and the EU will end after the Transition Period. This means changes, such as visas and work permits, for some of our service exporters; the Government has been helping UK businesses to get ready for this. However, the TCA we negotiated reflects the importance we know businesses place on cross-border mobility.

The Mode IV commitments we secured provide certainty and clarity for those who travel to another country temporarily to do business. These include reciprocal measures for: short-term business visitors; business visitors for establishment purposes; intra-company transferees; and those providing services under contract, whether as an employee or a self-employed professional.

These commitments guarantee market access to key economic sectors, and ease some burdens on business travellers, such as: removing the need for work permits for some short-term trips, and reducing the number of economic needs tests a country could impose to block access to exporters. They also ensure that the UK and EU Member States have transparent visa application processes, clear signposting on rules for business travellers, and a minimum standard for how business travellers and service providers should be treated when working abroad through non-discrimination clauses.