Concerns being raised in Parliament debate about possibility of a ‘no deal’ situation at the end of a transition period. What does this mean? Well../1 #BrexitDeal
This #Brexit deal only covers the EXIT ie UK leaving EU. If deal is approved by Parliament (+European Parliament) then EU +UK enter a ‘transition period’ where practical relations stay the same (incl freedom of movement, UK membership of Single Market and Customs Union) BUT /2
At the end of 2 year transition (or max of 4 years by EU law) there is no safety net. If a new trade deal and deal on other EU-UK relations eg security co-op has not been negotiated and signed off by then.. EU-GB relations default to WTO rules (ie absence of preferential FTA) /3
NIreland would remain aligned to EU regulations on goods and EU customs code unless Stormont voted against /4
Reminder: Leaving was supposed to be the easy part. Negotiating the future is likely to be a lot more complex - politically and practically - eg UK will be asked to allow access to its waters for EU fishermen in exchange for something else the UK wants etc /4
NB We’ve concentrated so much on goods in the Brexit negotiations but 80% of output of UK economy is service based. FTA’s don’t tend to cover services /5
