In the field of preferential trade between the EU and the United Kingdom, DECISION No 1/2023 OF THE ASSOCIATION COUNCIL ESTABLISHED BY THE TRADE AND COOPERATION AGREEMENT BETWEEN THE EUROPEAN UNION AND THE EUROPEAN ATOMIC ENERGY COMMUNITY, ON THE ONE PART, AND THE UNITED KINGDOM OF GREAT BRITAIN AND NORTHERN IRELAND, ON THE OTHER PART ( OJEU 28 – 12 – 2023).

This Decision extends until 31 December 2026 the application of the product-specific rules of origin for electric batteries and electric vehicles, which were planned to apply until 31 December 2023, and establishes that, as of 1 January 2027, as already provided for in the Agreement, the specific rules of origin for electric batteries and electric vehicles set out in Annex 3 of the Trade and Cooperation Agreement will apply.

This essentially means removing the specific rules of origin for electric batteries and electric vehicles, which were planned to apply from 1 January 2024 to 31 December 2026.

As the aim of these transitional rules is to encourage investment in manufacturing capacity in the European Union and the United Kingdom, it is considered that no further postponements of the application of the planned rules should be contemplated. Consequently, a new section 2 is created in article 68 of the Agreement, which provides that, except in the case of modifications resulting from updates to the Harmonized System, until 1 January 2032, the possibility of introducing new changes to the product-specific rules of origin for electric batteries and electric vehicles is eliminated.