Last week’s election result crystallised the choices ahead of the new Government. “Get Brexit done” was a great election slogan, but in reality 31 January will mark “the end of the beginning,” in Churchill’s famous words. At that point, the UK will move into a new era where the need will be to ‘Get Brexit begun.’
The Government’s first decision will be whether to retain the red lines famously set out by then premier Theresa May on taking office in 2016. Given the tight timescale for a decision, which has to be made by the end of June, its alternatives are probably limited:
- Either the UK decides to maintain more or less complete alignment with the EU on standards, regulations, etc. and adopts a Norway-type relationship with the EU27.
- Or it decides to leave with No Deal when the transition period comes to an end on 31 December 2020, and then begins to negotiate a completely new type of deal.
The reason for the binary choice is that there just isn’t enough time between now and the end of 2020 to negotiate and ratify a totally new working arrangement between the UK and the EU. It would take at least two years, and so far the Government has said that it will not request such an extension.
We look forward to continuing to support you over the coming year as these momentous decisions are made. The Ready for Brexit newsletter will move onto a monthly basis, to support you in your contingency planning for a No Deal outcome.
It will focus on providing more detail on the key areas that will be impacted by a No Deal decision – Customs and Tariffs, Finance, Legal, Services and Employment and Supply Chain. Our team knows how these areas used to operate before 1993, when the Single Market and Customs Union began.
In the meantime, we would like to wish you a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year.
Anna
Anna Tobin
Editor
Ready For Brexit
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NO DEAL BREXIT
ACTION PLAN
The No Deal Brexit Action Plan maps out the time available and the time required to undertake the processes to prepare your business for a No Deal Brexit.
Your business will need to modify or completely change procedures to prepare for Brexit. Brexlists help you take a rigorous and structured approach to your preparations:
- The Executive Summary Brexlist Brexit checklist, as its name implies, highlights the key issues
- The Business Functions Brexlist Brexit checklist maps onto the key business functions in a company
- The Directory Brexlist Brexit checklist maps onto the topic headings in our Brexit Directory
highlight what needs to be done, and by when, to ensure that all parts of your supply chain are prepared for Brexit:
- Identify the key questions for your business
- Share key learnings with your business partners
- Identify the key challenges and opportunities
- Highlight key internal and external priorities
BREXIT
DIRECTORY
The Brexit Directory is an extensive database of information and links organised by business function to help you find the information your business needs to know.