Established under the Trade and Cooperation Agreement (TCA) as part of our departure from the European Union, the Parliamentary Partnership Assembly had its first meeting in Brussels last week. 

As part of a cross-party delegation from the UK Parliament, I attended the two day Plenary session in the European Parliament to discuss key issues affecting both the UK and the EU. 

We heard from Maroš Šefčovič, Vice-President for Interinstitutional Relations and Foresight at the European Commission and Rt. Hon Michael Ellis QC MP, Paymaster General on the relationship and working between the UK and the EU. 

The war in Ukraine, and EU-UK cooperation dominated the first part of discussion, with the second day dedicated to a discussion on energy cooperation and the impact of Withdrawal Agreement issues upon the work of the Partnership Council. I spoke on both these items, and you can play it back via YouTube below.

It’s important that we work towards a new and cooperative relationship now that the UK has left the EU.