EU executive publishes a text on Thursday urging member states and companies to prepare for exit from the UK without an agreement on Brexit.
Brussels is meant to be considerate. The countries of the European Union (EU) and companies should “intensify their preparations,” the impact that the departure from the UK , especially in case of a failure of the negotiations of the agreement organizing the planned divorce late March 2019, urged Thursday the European Commission.
The European executive has issued a text that “invites member states and private actors to intensify their preparations” anticipating all possible scenarios, including that of a “sudden break” , at a time when the British Conservatives in power London are constantly tearing themselves apart on their exit strategy from the EU.
Anticipate a “hard” Brexit
“If the withdrawal agreement is not ratified by 30 March 2019, there will be no transition period and EU law will cease to apply” for the United Kingdom, the Commission said in the document it made public on Thursday.
Among the areas in which there will be repercussions to be anticipated, the European executive quotes the controls at the external borders of the Union and “the different rules applicable to data transfers” between the two entities.
London and Brussels are expected to reach an agreement by October, allowing the European and British Parliaments to ratify it before Brexit materializes. This agreement would include a transitional period until the end of 2020 to mitigate the many effects of the UK withdrawal.
But the negotiations are dragging on and in particular the question of the border that will separate Ireland, between the North, a province that belongs to the United Kingdom, and the South, a member state of the EU.
British divisions are a worry
They are further complicated by the sharp divisions within the British government where Eurosceptics challenge the Prime Minister’s strategy. Theresa May has had to face recent resignations from Foreign Minister Boris Johnson and Brexit negotiator David Davis.
David Davis’ successor, Dominic Raab, is expected in Brussels Thursday to meet Brexit chief negotiator for the EU, Frenchman Michel Barnier, after a week of negotiations.
