{"id":556315,"date":"2025-11-08T02:11:17","date_gmt":"2025-11-08T02:11:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/556315\/"},"modified":"2025-11-08T02:11:17","modified_gmt":"2025-11-08T02:11:17","slug":"wales-has-been-hurt-hardest-by-brexit-trade-barriers","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/556315\/","title":{"rendered":"Wales has been \u2018hurt hardest\u2019 by Brexit trade barriers"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>\n  Delyth Jewell led an \u201cunprecedented\u201d cross-committee inquiry which found \u201cunanimous\u201d agreement from witnesses that the UK-EU trade deal has not benefited Wales.\n<\/p>\n<p>\n  The Plaid Cymru politician warned the Welsh Government was not informed of UK priorities in advance, leaving Wales with a \u201cdiminishing voice\u201d and no \u201cseat at the table\u201d.\n<\/p>\n<p>\n  Ms Jewell, who chairs the Senedd\u2019s culture and international relations committee, criticised UK ministers for refusing to give evidence to the inquiry or share their EU priorities.\n<\/p>\n<p>\n  She told the Senedd: \u201cThis is a moment for ambition and for Wales not to be a mere passive observer in the processes that happen.\n<\/p>\n<p>\n  \u201cWe must take an active role in shaping outcomes that matter to our culture, our economy, our environment, our communities.\u201d\n<\/p>\n<p>\n  Turning to the impact on culture, she said: \u201cTouring artists, creative professionals and cultural organisations face barriers that were unimaginable before Brexit, barriers that restrict mobility, increase costs and diminish Wales&#8217;s cultural presence on the international stage.\n<\/p>\n<p>\n  \u201cThe evidence is stark \u2013 current arrangements for touring are described as unworkable.\u201d\n<\/p>\n<p>\n  The debate heard the economic impact has been severe \u2013 with the EU remaining the biggest trading partner, accounting for 47% (or \u00a317.6bn) of Wales\u2019 total trade in goods.\n<\/p>\n<p>\n  The report\u2019s criticism was not limited to trade. Ll\u0177r Gruffydd, chair of the climate committee, warned Wales has had a glaring environmental governance gap since the UK left the EU.\n<\/p>\n<p>\n  The Plaid Cymru politician expressed concerns about the UK-EU trade and cooperation agreement (TCA) containing no dedicated chapter on environment and climate cooperation.\n<\/p>\n<p>\n  Meanwhile, Mike Hedges \u2013 who chairs the Senedd\u2019s legislation committee \u2013 sounded the alarm about Wales\u2019 diminishing voice in UK-EU relations. He criticised ministers for \u201cnot stepping in\u201d to support Welsh organisations\u2019 involvement.\n<\/p>\n<p>\n  Mr Hedges told Senedd members the Welsh Government has not published any Wales-specific information, advice nor guidance on the TCA since 2021.\n<\/p>\n<p>\n  \u201cThis is incredible,\u201d he warned during Wednesday\u2019s (November 5) debate. \u201cIt is one of the most significant international treaties that will ever be considered by the Senedd.\u201d\n<\/p>\n<p>\n  His Labour colleague Alun Davies told the Senedd he could \u201cthink of no witness&#8230; who said that Brexit had benefited Wales,\u201d adding he was \u201castonished\u201d the Welsh Government \u201cdoesn&#8217;t seem to want to set real objectives for the future\u201d.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Delyth Jewell led an \u201cunprecedented\u201d cross-committee inquiry which found \u201cunanimous\u201d agreement from witnesses that the UK-EU trade deal&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":556316,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5226],"tags":[802,748,2000,299,5187,1699,4884,16,15],"class_list":{"0":"post-556315","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-brexit","8":"tag-brexit","9":"tag-britain","10":"tag-eu","11":"tag-europe","12":"tag-european","13":"tag-european-union","14":"tag-great-britain","15":"tag-uk","16":"tag-united-kingdom"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@uk\/115511655412838981","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/556315","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=556315"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/556315\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/556316"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=556315"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=556315"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=556315"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}