EU-UK trade in goods and services

Likewise, Figure 4 shows that EU exports of goods to the UK have consistently risen since the implementation of the TCA. A September 2024 review of the EU-UK TCA, published by the Scottish Parliament, points out that ‘while goods entering the EU from the UK were subject to full customs and regulatory checks immediately after the UK left the EU’s legal order, border checks on goods entering the UK from the EU are only now being phased in’. This would explain the disparity between UK exports to the EU and EU exports to the UK. As explained later in this briefing, in the section on persisting challenges, experts highlight that these checks applied as a result of the EU-UK TCA, have caused severe disruption in the UK-EU supply chain, affecting consumer and intermediate goods in particular. That the UK has had to reduce the types of exports in goods has influenced smaller EU economies, while larger EU economies, such as Germany and France, have experienced less significant declines.