Brexit: UK no longer a member of EU

First of all it’s a long, long period of hard bargaining between the UK and the EU.

The UK government is determined to try to get a free-trade deal done by the end of this year but that will not be straight forward – not least because there are so many things that have to be sorted out.

But also because the EU will drive a hard bargain. Yes, both sides say they still want to be friends and partners and respectful neighbours and people want to do lots of business with each other.

But the UK government has already acknowledged that will mean some friction.

And also, until it’s all done and dusted there’s still uncertainty for businesses and people around the country who want to know exactly what is next.

But although there is legions of details to be worked out, many more political controversies along the way, be in no doubt – the fundamental question which has been hanging over the country for more than three years has been settled.

And that’s already completely changed the political dynamic – and therefore the dynamic in the country too.

Catacomb82 on January 31st, 2020 at 23:09 UTC »

The map of the EU on Wikipedia was updated right on time. I wouldn’t have expected anything less.

YnwaMquc2k19 on January 31st, 2020 at 23:06 UTC »

The UK will have an 11 months transition period that ends on December 31st, 2020. If no deal is reached the UK will have a hard Brexit.

On October 19th, 2019: the UK government posted four documents on their website: a general statement, Declaration on consent of Northern Ireland, New Political Declaration and the New Withdrawal Agreement between the UK and the EU.

A summary from the BBC Article:

During the Transition Period, the UK will still be following EU rules, be a part of the EU Custom Union and the European Single Market (which means free movement of persons and goods will still be a thing in this time being). The European Supreme Court will also have a final say over legal disputes. The UK will no longer participate in EU institutions, such as the European Parliament and the European Commission, since today. The UK will also continue to contribute to the EU Budget.

Top to-do list would be the negotiation of the UK-EU trade deal, which is crucial for the UK to trade with EU with no tariffs, quotas, or other barriers once the transition is finished. Both also have to agree on how far can the UK stray away from existing EU regulations. In 2019, total UK trade was valued at 1.3 Trillion pounds, with 49% comes from the EU and 11% comes from countries with existing trade agreements with the EU. The UK can also negotiate trade deals with the US and Australia during the transition period.

Other aspects of EU-UK relationships, such as law enforcement, aviation standards/safety, data sharing/security, accessing fishing waters, licensing, regulation of medicines gas/electricity supplies, will also need to be negotiated. The UK will also need to come up with a new immigration system once the freedom of movement comes to an end.

The UK-EU trade deal can be initiated on January 2021 if it is successfully negotiated before the end of 2020. Despite optimism from the UK government, the European Commission said that the timetable will be "extremely challenging". however, contingency plans will be needed in other areas despite the trade deal. If there is no trade deal, the UK will be trading on WTO terms with EU - which means most UK goods will receive tariffs. If other areas of future relationships aren't successfully negotiated, the no-deal terms will be implemented.

Although PM Boris Johnson can extend the transition period by 12-24 months (only if the EU agrees as well), he has choose not to, and the prospect of extention being passed in the parliament is unlikely. The agreement says the two sides need to agree to extend the transition by 2020-07-01. If a trade deal were to be struck sooner the transition period could be ended earlier.

The Scottish Government posted a message of solidarity with the EU in their twitter. Their twitter banner has changed to a wide open beachfront with the tagline "Scotland is Open", and their recent 4 or 5 tweets are all about solidarity with the EU and offering guidelines to EU nationals who are living/working in Scotland.

something_exe on January 31st, 2020 at 23:04 UTC »

January has been too weird. I’m not ready for the rest of this year man