BCF blog - Brexit: the future relationship?

Ellen Daniels

Brexit - the future relationship?

The last few days have been fairly unprecedented for British politics- and not in a good way. Parliament has had many many votes on the type of Brexit, the timing of Brexit, a referendum on Brexit, the list goes on. However, instead of speculating about what we don’t know about Brexit, I thought I would focus on what we do know:

• Time IS running out for the Prime Minister: As it stands, the UK must legally leave the EU on the 29^th March. This is not to say that can’t be changed- it can- but the Government must act fast. Last night, Parliament voted on seeking an extension to Article 50, which can only be done if unanimously agreed by the EU 27 heads of state (who will be meeting on 21^st March).
• The Spring Statement was seriously overshadowed: This week, we had the second most important update (other than the annual Autumn Budget) on the state of the country’s finances. It was obviously quite heavily overshadowed by Brexit, but the Chancellor announced a three year spending review, funding to deal with knife crime, and a halving of the apprenticeship levy on firms. You can find a summary here.
• There will be a third meaningful vote: That’s about all we can say with certainty at the moment. There’s a lot of speculation about whether Theresa May would have the numbers to pass the Withdrawal Agreement after it failing twice in the Commons. There are also discussions on the legal interpretation of the backstop, and whether there are any tweaks the Prime Minister could make to get the votes.
• Complying with EU legislation: Up to 11pm UK time on 29^th March, all businesses in the UK must comply with EU legislation. This includes REACH, CLP and all other related regulations. As I said above, until the departure date has been legally changed, it is written into law that the UK will be leaving the EU on 29^th March 2019.
• The Withdrawal Agreement and Political Declaration take us to December 2021- The Withdrawal Agreement, if voted through, covers the UK/EU relationship for the “transition period”, until December 2021. The Political Declaration, which contains the all important reference to the UK “seeking access to the European Chemicals Agency”, sets the scene for the future relationship post-2021.

It may seem like we live in a world of speculation, but the clock is running down for the Prime Minister, and we will know by the end of the month exactly what will be happening with Brexit. On 28th March, the BCF will be hosting a Brexit seminar, where the above will be elaborated on, and you will have the opportunity to hear from and quiz representatives from Government and industry, as well as being able to hear what life is like outside the EU from the Swiss Coatings Federation.