Brexit Link

The UK left the EU at midnight CET (23.00 GMT) on 31 January 2020. A transition period is now in place until 31 December 2020. During this period all EU rules and laws will continue to apply to the UK. Virtually nothing will change for businesses or for the public. This will give everyone more time to prepare for the new agreements that the EU and the UK intend to make after 31 December 2020.

On 17 October 2019 the UK and the EU reached an agreement on the conditions for the UK’s departure from the EU (Brexit), and on a transition period until 31 December 2020. The transition period will not be extended. The UK has said that it does not want an extension. The option of an extension was contained in the withdrawal agreement. The UK and the EU had until 1 July 2020 to agree on a possible extension.

Both sides are now eyeing October’s European Council meeting as a de facto deadline, to allow time to pin the deal down before the transition period ends at 11 p.m. U.K. time on December 31.

During the transition period the UK and the EU are continuing to negotiate their new relationship. This includes agreeing on how companies in the EU will be able to do business in and with the UK after the transition period. They will also negotiate on security cooperation.

The new relationship will only become clear when the negotiations are complete, at the end of the transition period. The new agreements will enter into force after the transition period, which will end on 31 December 2020. The EU countries must first approve these new agreements. If the UK and the EU are unable to reach agreement, there will be a ‘no deal’ Brexit. This will happen at the end of the transition period.

Ci Consulta’s Communiq.EU is following closely the developments on BREXIT.

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Smiles – and no talk of Brexit – as Macron and Johnson warm up at G7

27th June 2022

SCHLOSS ELMAU, Germany, June 26 (Reuters) - After clashing last year over sausages and submarines, France's Emmanuel Macron and Britain's Boris Johnson were all smiles at a G7 summit on Sunday, with disputes over Brexit not even coming up at bilateral talks focused mainly on Ukraine. The leaders of Europe's two main military powers jovially exchanged pleasantries at the start of thei...

Irish PM Martin urges Britain to resume talks with EU over its N.Ireland law

19th June 2022

LONDON, June 19 (Reuters) - Irish Prime Minister Micheal Martin said on Sunday a new British law to change part of a Brexit deal to try to ease trade with Northern Ireland was "unilateralism of the worst kind" and urged the government to resume talks. The European Commission launched two new legal proceedings against Britain this month after London published plans to override some po...

Britain to bolster competitiveness in finance after Brexit

10th May 2022

Britain said on Tuesday it will require its regulators to help the City of London remain a globally competitive financial centre after being largely cut off from the European Union due to Brexit. The government outlined planned legislation marking the biggest changes to UK capital markets in years to exploit what it sees as "Brexit freedoms" to set financial rules which had hitherto been writt...

Explainer: What Northern Irish political turmoil means for Brexit deal

8th February 2022

Northern Ireland's First Minister Paul Givan resigned on Thursday in protest at post-Brexit trade rules, a day after an attempt by one of his colleagues to halt some checks on goods arriving from Britain drew anger from the EU and Ireland. read more NO MORE CHECKS? As part of its Brexit deal, Britain agreed a document known as the Northern Ireland protocol with the European Union that aims ...

UK companies face New Year Brexit import controls

31st December 2021

LONDON, Dec 31 (Reuters) - British firms face the introduction of much-delayed post-Brexit border control checks from Jan. 1 which will affect businesses importing $314 billion of goods a year from the European Union. Britain left the EU's single market at the beginning of 2021 and while Europe imposed checks on goods straight away, Britain staggered and delayed the introduction of a full ...

One year on, most voters in UK say Brexit has gone badly

26th December 2021

More than six out of 10 voters believe Brexit has either gone badly or worse than they expected – a year after the UK left the EU, according to an anniversary poll for the Observer. The Opinium survey – coming a week after the minister in charge of Brexit, Lord Frost, resigned from Boris Johnson’s government – also found that 42% of people who voted Leave in 2016 had a negative view of how...

London banking job exodus to EU slows despite Brexit

20th December 2021

The number of finance jobs shifting from Britain to the European Union due to Brexit is less than initially expected despite billions of euros in share trading moving to the bloc and London losing most of its access to EU capital markets, consultants EY said on Monday. After Britain voted in 2016 to exit the EU, analysts like Oliver Wyman estimated that up to 35,000 financi...

Remainers seek voice in UK’s post-Brexit cacophony

14th December 2021

UK Remainers may take a crumb of comfort as Prime Minister Boris Johnson, elected on a promise to "Get Brexit Done", sees his poll support dive after a string of scandals. But a year after Britain left the European Union, even the most ardent of pro-EU backers accept the divorce was so complete that it could take years to win back anything like the relationship with Europe they would...

“Come to your senses”, Germany urges Britain on N.Ireland

23rd November 2021

Germany urged Britain on Tuesday to come to its senses by respecting its commitments under the Brexit divorce agreement with the European Union and resolve differences over Northern Ireland. London has repeatedly threatened to trigger Article 16, an emergency brake in the Northern Ireland protocol, if talks about the British province's trading position fail. Such a move could tr...

EU’s Sefcovic sees progress, hope in N.Ireland Brexit talks

21st November 2021

LONDON, Nov 21 (Reuters) - Progress was made on Friday in talks between the European Union and Britain on post-Brexit trade issues affecting Northern Ireland and solutions can be found if London redoubles its efforts, the EU official in charge of the talks said on Sunday. The two sides agreed last week to intensify efforts to resolve difficulties over trade between Great Britain and Northern I...

Anger, tangle and trouble: Is another Brexit showdown looming?

9th November 2021

What happens if Britain triggers emergency unilateral provisions in the Brexit divorce deal known as Article 16? WHAT IS ARTICLE 16? Article 16 is a clause in the Protocol on Ireland/Northern Ireland, a key part of the Withdrawal Agreement - the deal under which Britain left the European Union. The Protocol sought to avoid a hard border between British-ruled Northern Ireland and EU membe...

UK seems set to invoke emergency measures on N.Ireland trade – Irish minister

7th November 2021

DUBLIN (Reuters) - Ireland said on Sunday the British government appears ready to invoke emergency unilateral provisions in its Brexit deal governing Northern Ireland's trading arrangements, a move that would sour ties with Dublin, the EU and the United States. Britain has repeatedly threatened to activate emergency measures under Article 16, which allows either side to take unilateral action ...

UK’s Frost calls French PM remarks on Brexit ‘very troubling’

30th October 2021

LONDON (Reuters) - British Brexit minister David Frost said remarks made by France's prime minister in a letter to the European Union suggesting the bloc should demonstrate there is "more damage to leaving the EU than to remaining there" were "very troubling". "I hope this opinion is not held more widely across the EU," Frost said on Twitter. "To see it expressed in this way is clearly very tr...

Germany rejects negotiations over Northern Ireland Protocol

15th October 2021

Germany rejects new negotiations over the Northern Ireland Protocol, which stipulates Northern Ireland's will continue to follow EU rules on product standards to prevent checks along the border, a German government spokesperson said on Friday. On Wednesday, the European Commission published proposals to simplify the implementation of the Northern Ireland Protocol and the German gover...

Britain calls for 800 foreign butchers to avoid pig cull

15th October 2021

LONDON, Oct 14 (Reuters) - Britain will offer six-month emergency visas to 800 foreign butchers to avoid a mass pig cull, it said on Thursday, after farmers complained that an exodus of workers from abattoirs and meat processors had left the pork sector fighting for survival. A combination of Brexit and COVID-19 has sparked an exodus of east European workers, leaving some 120,000 pigs in barns...

EU proposes easing checks on British trade to N. Ireland

13th October 2021

BRUSSELS, Oct 13 (Reuters) - The European Union offered Britain a package of measures to ease the transit of goods to Northern Ireland, but it looked unlikely to end tensions over post-Brexit trading rules for the province as it stopped short of the overhaul that London has demanded. The EU's executive said the measures could halve customs paperwork and cut checks on meat, dairy and other food...

Britain ‘shifting playing field’ on N.Ireland trade talks – Dublin

11th October 2021

DUBLIN (Reuters) - Ireland accused Britain on Monday of "shifting the playing field" in talks to resolve post-Brexit trading issues in Northern Ireland after London emphasised the need to remove EU judicial oversight of the issue. On Saturday, Britain's Brexit minister David Frost released extracts of a speech he is due to make on Tuesday, saying the European Court of Justice (ECJ) has created...

EU rejects UK call to end bloc’s court oversight over post-Brexit Irish trade

11th October 2021

Oct 11 (Reuters) - The European Union said on Monday that removing the oversight of the bloc's top court from the UK's Brexit deal in parts governing trade on the island of Ireland would effectively cut Northern Ireland off the European market. "Our focus should be on those issues that matter the most to the people of Northern Ireland and not on requests such as removing the role of the Europe...

Britain and Ireland argue on Twitter over Brexit deal

10th October 2021

LONDON (Reuters) - Britain and Ireland traded barbs on Twitter on Sunday after British Brexit negotiator David Frost restated his view that the EU must agree "significant change" to the Northern Ireland protocol that governs trade and border rules in the province. The protocol was part of the Brexit settlement Prime Minister Boris Johnson negotiated with the EU, but London has repeatedly said ...

Britain to stress need for ‘significant change’ in Northern Ireland protocol

10th October 2021

LONDON, Oct 9 (Reuters) - Britain will tell the European Union again next week that "significant change" to the Northern Ireland protocol is vital for the restoration of genuinely good relations between London and Brussels. The protocol was part of the Brexit divorce settlement Prime Minister Boris Johnson negotiated with the EU, but London has said it must be rewritten less than a year after ...

Ireland thinks Britain unlikely to trigger N.Ireland trade clause

2nd October 2021

DUBLIN, Oct 2 (Reuters) - Ireland does not expect Britain to trigger a clause in Northern Ireland's fraught post-Brexit trading deal to unilaterally jettison some of its terms, Foreign Minister Simon Coveney said. Prime Minister Boris Johnson said on Friday it was possible the British government would trigger "Article 16" if the European Union did not make appropriate concessions to ease the b...

EU would be our trade priority, UK opposition Labour Party says

28th September 2021

The UK opposition Labour Party would make rebuilding Britain's ties with the European Union its top trade priority, putting the bloc above U.S and Indo-Pacific deals in the post-Brexit era, its trade policy chief Emily Thornberry said on Monday, Conservative Prime Minister Boris Johnson is only two years into a possible five-year term, but Labour&nbs...

Brexit threats not helpful in solving N.Ireland problems, says EU

26th September 2021

LONDON, Sept 26 (Reuters) - The European Union warned Britain on Sunday that triggering a safeguard clause in its Brexit deal governing trade with Northern Ireland was "not helpful" and the country should instead pursue solutions. "I don't think that that is the first approach, we should try and find solutions. I think threats are not helpful and I think Article 16 is used in very extreme circ...

EU hopes to solve Northern Ireland’s Brexit trade issues by year-end

22nd September 2021

BRUSSELS, Sept 21 (Reuters) - The European Union hopes to resolve the trading difficulties of Northern Ireland by the end of the year, the EU's post-Brexit coordinator said on Tuesday, while warning London against unilaterally suspending the terms of the divorce deal. European Commission vice-president Maros Sefcovic, who oversees EU relations with Britain, once again rejected a British demand...

Malta allocated €40m from Brexit Adjustment Fund

16th September 2021

MEPs approved the €5 billion Brexit Adjustment Reserve to help member states deal with the economic, social and territorial impact of the UK’s departure from the EU. The agreement to set up the special fund, reached by Parliament and Council negotiators in June, was adopted with 652 in favour, 32 against and 11 abstentions. €1.6 billion will be distributed in 2021. The remaining €3.4 billion ...

UK still wants full negotiation with EU on N. Ireland trade

14th September 2021

Full negotiations are needed with the European Union to resolve issues with the deal governing post-Brexit trade with Northern Ireland, British Prime Minister Boris Johnson's spokesman said on Tuesday. Last week, the EU rejected a British demand to renegotiate the Northern Ireland protocol, saying that to do so would only bring instability and uncertainty. Johnson's spokesman said there ha...

EU rejects reworking N. Ireland deal, urges calmer tone

11th September 2021

BELFAST, Sept 10 (Reuters) - The European Union rejected a British demand to renegotiate their deal governing the trading position of Northern Ireland, saying that to so would only bring instability and uncertainty. European Commission Vice-President Maros Sefcovic, who oversees EU relations with post-Brexit Britain, said on Friday that the Northern Ireland protocol needed to be properly imple...

UK to extend Northern Ireland’s Brexit grace periods

7th September 2021

Britain plans to further extend post-Brexit grace periods on some goods imports to Northern Ireland, Brexit minister David Frost said on Monday, in a move designed to give London and Brussels more time for talks about trade with the province. The fate of British-ruled Northern Ireland was the most contentious issue in Britain's negotiations over its exit...

UK government rejects call for new visas to ease post-Brexit truck driver shortage

29th August 2021

LONDON, Aug 28 (Reuters) - Britain's government has rejected calls from retail and logistics companies to temporarily ease post-Brexit immigration rules which they say are contributing to a shortage of truck drivers and acute supply chain disruption. Fast food chains McDonald's, KFC, and Nando's, as well as bakery chain Greggs, have all faced disruption this week as suppliers struggled to deli...

Top earning bankers shifted from Britain to EU ahead of Brexit

18th August 2021

Britain lost nearly a hundred highly paid bankers ahead of its departure from the European Union, the bloc's banking watchdog said on Wednesday, the latest confirmation of how Brexit has reshaped Europe's financial sector and tax base. The European Banking Authority (EBA) said in its annual survey of bankers paid a million euros ($1.17 million) or more a year that Britain saw a drop of 95 ...

Ireland’s goods imports from Britain drop 32% in first half of 2021

17th August 2021

DUBLIN (Reuters) - Ireland's goods imports from Britain were 32% lower in the first half of the year compared with 2020 after posting the smallest monthly decline in June since new post-Brexit trade barriers came into force at the start of the year, data showed on Monday. Irish goods exports to Britain, which is not set to impose checks until later this year, rose by 68% year-on-year in June t...

Northern Ireland protocol: here’s what a compromise between EU and UK could look like

2nd August 2021

The EU has announced it will suspend its legal action against the UK for allegedly breaching the Northern Ireland protocol by unilaterally extending grace periods related to trade between Great Britain and the province. The intention is for both parties to discuss realistic and practical solutions to the trade issues arising from the protocol, which is the agreement they negotiated to avoid a har...

Northern Ireland set to lose access to 2,000 medicines – FT

24th July 2021

About 2,000 medicines currently offered to patients in Northern Ireland and made in Great Britain are set to be withdrawn as drugs manufacturers grapple with onerous post-Brexit red tape, the Financial Times reports. The threat of serious disruption to drugs supplies came as European commission president Ursula von der Leyen warned UK prime minister Boris Johnson that Brussels would not reneg...

France rejects UK Brexit renegotiation request

23rd July 2021

France's Europe minister Clement Beaune rejected Britain's request to renegotiate the Brexit deal governing trade with Northern Ireland, dismissing British accusations of European dogmatism as a "tall tale". Britain on Wednesday demanded a new deal from the European Union to govern post-Brexit trade with the British province, saying it already had cause to step away from parts of the deal ...

EU rejects UK demand for new post-Brexit deal on Northern Ireland

21st July 2021

LONDON, July 21 (Reuters) - Britain demanded on Wednesday that the European Union agree to rewrite a deal overseeing problematic post-Brexit trade involving Northern Ireland just a year after it was agreed with the bloc, a call immediately rejected by Brussels. The Northern Ireland protocol was part of the Brexit settlement, backed by Prime Minister Boris Johnson, that finally sealed Britain's...

UPDATED: UK demands new deal on post-Brexit trade for N.Ireland

21st July 2021

Britain on Wednesday demanded a new deal from the European Union to govern post-Brexit trade with Northern Ireland, saying it already had cause to step away from parts of the deal that it struck with Brussels only last year. The Northern Ireland protocol, backed by Prime Minister Boris Johnson, was part of the settlement that finally sealed Britain's sometimes bitter divorce from the bloc,...

UK to warn EU it may deviate from Brexit deal on N.Ireland -sources

19th July 2021

BRUSSELS/LONDON, July 19 (Reuters) - Britain will threaten this week to deviate from the Brexit deal unless the European Union shows more flexibility over Northern Ireland, one UK and three EU sources told Reuters, a move that could thrust the five-year Brexit divorce into tumult. Deviating from the deal's so-called Northern Ireland Protocol is a risky step: its aim was to prevent Brexit from ...

Brexit deal’s N.Ireland protocol not sustainable – UK’s Frost

19th July 2021

The element of the Brexit deal which relates to trade with Northern Ireland is not sustainable and Britain is keeping all options on the table over how it might act, British minister David Frost said on Monday. "We all know the protocol is not sustainable in the way it's working at the moment," Frost told a parliamentary committee, saying barriers on goods moving between mainland Britain a...

British supermarkets may shift supply chains to EU if N.Ireland trade not addressed

18th July 2021

LONDON (Reuters) - British supermarket groups, including Tesco, Sainsbury's and Asda, said on Sunday they may shift some supply chains from the UK to the European Union unless the future of Britain-Northern Ireland trade is addressed urgently. Current post-Brexit trading arrangements between Britain and Northern Ireland are governed by the Northern Ireland protocol. This was designed to strike...

Dover warns of Brexit trade disruption as tourists hit Europe

9th July 2021

Trade disruption could return if British holidaymakers head for European summer breaks, the head of the country's biggest port said, calling on the government to urgently reconsider funding to redevelop Dover to prevent long-term damage. Britain's passage out of the European Union was eased by a lack of tourist traffic to France during the COVID-19 pandemic, enabling port staff to process ...