BREXIT – for those not following every twist and turn, this is what you need to know:
What is Brexit?
Brexit – a portmanteau of “British” and “exit” – refers to the withdrawal of the United Kingdom (UK) from the European Union (EU). A public vote (known as a referendum) was held on 23 June 2016, when 17.4 million British people opted for Brexit. This gave the Leave side 52%, compared with 48% for Remain.
What happened since then?
The UK ceased being a member of the EU at 23:00 GMT on 31 January 2020, the actual Brexit Day, but it is very much the beginning of Brexit, and not yet the end of the Brexit story.
Why, and what happened after Brexit Day?
While the UK formally left the EU on 31 January 2020, it immediately entered into an 11-month transition period.
Currently, and over this summer, UK and EU officials are still trying to agree what the future relationship will eventually look like.
During this period, the UK will continue to follow all of the EU’s rules, and its trading relationship will remain the same. However, it is no longer part of the EU’s political institutions, so there are no longer any British MEPs in the European Parliament for instance.
The transition period will end on 31 December 2020.
Talks started in March and will intensify over the summer, obviously hindered by the Covid-19 pandemic, with a new free trade agreement being the priority.
The UK will leave the single market and customs union at the end of the transition, and a free trade agreement would allow UK goods to move around the EU without extra charges and keep other barriers (such as border checks) to a minimum.
Aside from trade, many other aspects of the future UK-EU relationship will also need to be decided during the transition and are part of ongoing tough negotiations. For example:
– Access to fishing waters
– Law enforcement, data sharing and security
– Aviation standards and safety
– Supplies of electricity and gas
– Licensing and regulation of medicines
If an agreement cannot be reached by 31 December – as many begin to expect, given the state of the negotiations – then tariffs (taxes) and full border checks will have to be applied to UK goods travelling to the EU.
As Brexit anyway, and namely such so-called “No-deal Brexit”, has the capacity to disrupt businesses in all sectors, a successful individual approach requires a sober and careful analysis, address the reality, prepare for life after Brexit and take action.
Brexit will have an immense impact on almost every business and individual in some form and more or less, however, in the face of increasing pessimism, it’s best to be pro-active and turn uncertainty into opportunity.
This is why we decided to set up our new dedicated Brexit task force here at AVALON, so you can focus on identifying the specific issues relevant to your business and get clarity on your Brexit goals, while we are here to assist your efforts by means of professional Writing, Translations and Editing, so you will have a powerful and effective message to support your post-Brexit ambitions and fuel your future success. We are ready to fast-track your projects and enable you to get ahead of things in good time before the actual changes from Brexit will happen. “Hope for the best, but prepare for the worst!”
