BREXIT

Unless and until a Withdrawal Agreement is signed by the UK and EU and ratified by the UK Parliament and the European Parliament, it is possible that the UK will leave the EU on 29 March 2019 without a deal in place. The government’s priority in preparing for the no deal outcome is to provide ‘stability for citizens, consumers and business’, to ensure the ‘smooth operations of business, infrastructure and public services’ and to minimise economic disruption. In some cases this will require the UK to act unilaterally, irrespective of whether the EU reciprocates.

Much of the government’s preparation is set out on the basis that the same laws and rules will apply in the UK the day before and after exit, with legal continuity provided by operation of the European Union (Withdrawal) Act 2018

The latest notices published are set out below for ease of reference:

Applying for EU-funded programmes

European Territorial Cooperation funding if there’s no Brexit deal―setting out the implications for current and future European Territorial Cooperation (ETC) programmes, including guidance for organisations looking to apply for funding and those already receiving funding and details of the UK government guarantee for ETC funded projects (from 2014 to 2020).

Driving and transport

Aviation safety if there’s no Brexit deal―one of three notices on aviation, setting out the implications for managing aviation safety, the impact on UK and EU registered aircraft, licences for pilots and other aviation personnel, safety certification in the aerospace industry and safety approvals for air carriers and other organisations.

Aviation security if there’s no Brexit deal―one of three notices on aviation, setting out the implications for aviation security including the impact on passengers on direct flights, passengers from the UK and EU transferring through UK airports, passengers from the UK transferring through EU airports, cargo between the EU and UK and cargo from the rest of the world into the UK and the EU.

Flights to and from the UK if there’s no Brexit deal―one of three notices on aviation, setting out the implications for air travel including flights to, from and within the EU (and the rest of the world), air traffic management, operating and route licences, passenger rights and slot allocation.

Operating bus or coach services abroad if there’s no Brexit deal―setting out the implications for UK bus and coach operators and drivers, and cross referring separate guidance on driving in the EU, vehicle insurance and trading with the EU. It includes guidance on recognition of operator licences and associated authorisations, driving licenses and qualifications.

Vehicle insurance if there’s no Brexit deal—setting out the implications for motorists who would need a Green Card as proof of third party motor insurance cover for travel in the EU, EEA, Andorra, Serbia and Switzerland, and motor insurance businesses responsible for providing Green Cards.

Farming and agriculture

Manufacturing and marketing fertilisers if there’s no Brexit deal—setting out the implications for businesses that manufacture or market fertilisers under rules which are currently partially harmonised with the EU, including implications for material labelled ‘EC fertiliser’.

Import/export

Buying and selling timber if there’s no Brexit deal—setting out the implications for timber supply chains, including the import and export (to/from the EU or certain EEA Member States) of timber or timber products covered by the EU Timber Regulation and Forest Law Enforcement Governance and Trade Regulation.

Commercial road haulage in the EU if there’s no Brexit deal—setting out the implications in terms of EU access for UK road haulage companies, including permit requirements, trailer registration requirements, professional qualifications for drivers and traffic management at borders.

Importing animals and animal products if there’s no Brexit deal—setting out the implications for businesses or individuals importing animals, animal products and high-risk food and feed into the UK. Changes are likely to affect both transit consignments and consignments originating within EU countries.

Exporting animals and animal products if there’s no Brexit deal—setting out the implications for businesses or individuals exporting animals or animal products to EU countries.

Importing and exporting plants if there’s no Brexit deal—setting out the implications for businesses or individuals trading in plants and plant products with EU countries.

Intellectual property

Copyright if there’s no Brexit deal—one of four notices on IP, setting out the implications for cross-border copyright and relevant protections for copyright works in the UK and for UK works abroad, with reference to the relevant cross-border mechanisms under EU and international law. It provides some pointers for organisations seeking advice with links to related information from the Intellectual Property Office.

Exhaustion of intellectual property rights if there’s no Brexit deal—one of four notices on IP, setting out the high level implications for exhaustion of IP rights. The government is still considering the options for exhaustion of IP rights outside the European Economic Area (EEA) exhaustion scheme. The UK plans to continue recognising the EEA scheme to provide continuity in the immediate term eg by allowing parallel imports of goods from the EEA. There may be restrictions on the parallel import of goods from the UK to the EEA.

Patents if there’s no Brexit deal—one of four notices on IP, setting out the implications for the UK patent system and supplementary protection certificates, including plans to retain EU legislation relevant to patents and supplementary protection certificates, including biotechnology patents and applications, compulsory licensing arrangements, and exceptions from infringement for the testing of pharmaceutical products. It also sets out possible scenarios and consequences for the Unified Patent Court and unitary patent, correspondence addresses and confidentiality for UK patents.

Trade marks and designs if there’s no Brexit deal—one of four notices on IP, setting out the implications for EU trade marks, registered Community designs and unregistered Community designs, including proposals for providing equivalent UK protections. It also considers the impact for correspondence addresses and confidentiality for UK trade marks and designs. It does not cover choice of representatives in relation to EU trade marks and registered Community designs, or rules relating to legal professional representation and service address requirements for IP rights protected in individual EEA states.

Product labelling and safety

Producing and labelling food if there’s no Brexit deal—setting out the implications for rules governing the labelling of food as well as compositional standards (ie minimum standards for certain types of key foods eg honey, jam, chocolate, sugars, instant coffee, bottled waters and fruit juice) and announcing forthcoming public consultations on these issues.

Protecting geographical food and drink names if there’s no Brexit deal—setting out the implications for food products with geographical indication (GI) protection. The UK currently has 86 products which have EU GI protection including foods, wines and spirits. It includes proposals for consultation on setting up a UK GI scheme to mirror the EU scheme under which all 86 UK Gis would receive new UK GI status automatically. Further guidance is expected in early 2019.

Regulating chemicals (REACH) if there’s no Brexit deal—setting out the implications for businesses producing, registering, importing or exporting chemicals, including the impact on the various controls on labelling and packaging. It includes UK proposal for introducing a domestic framework and capacity to deliver the regulatory functions currently performed by European Chemicals Agency.

Regulating energy

Generating low-carbon electricity if there’s no Brexit deal—setting out the implications for electricity generators and suppliers, installers of certain microgeneration technologies, and renewable energy fuel suppliers and generators, including guarantees of origin of electricity produced from high-efficiency cogeneration, the Renewable Energy Guarantees of Origin scheme and recognition of certification of installers of certain microgeneration technologies.

Regulating veterinary medicines

Accessing animal medicine IT systems if there’s no Brexit deal—setting out the implications for IT systems relating to veterinary medicines, including systems used to submit data and reports and actions stakeholders will need to take to continue to submit regulatory and notification information to the UK via the Veterinary Medicines Directorate.

Registration of veterinary medicines if there’s no Brexit deal—setting out the implications for registration of  veterinary medicines, including batch testing, qualified person (QP) batch certification and release, wholesale dealers’ authorisations, manufacturing authorisation requirements for medicinal products imported from the EU/EE and centralised veterinary medicine authorisations.

Regulation of veterinary medicines if there’s no Brexit deal—setting out the implications for the regulation of veterinary medicines including marketing authorisation holder (MAH) legal presence requirements, reference products for veterinary generic marketing authorisations, marketing authorisation for parallel import (MAPI) applications and retention of existing maximum residue limits (MRLs).

Travelling between the UK and the EU

Taking your pet abroad if there’s no Brexit deal—setting out the implications for individuals travelling to and from the EU with pets and requirements for official veterinarians to ensure UK pet owners travelling with their pets continue to meet the requirements of the EU pet travel scheme.

EU preparedness

While the UK and EU negotiating teams have intensified efforts to reach agreement on the terms of withdrawal and transition, the European Council (Art. 50) has repeatedly stated that nothing is agreed until everything is agreed. On this basis, the European Commission has published its own preparedness notices in a range of policy areas.

Further details, including a list of preparedness notices divided by sector, see: European Commission—Brexit preparedness notices.

Next steps

The UK government warns that its technical notices are meant for guidance only and individuals, businesses and organisations should consider whether they need separate professional advice before making specific preparations.

Further legislation, guidance and general communications on UK preparations for the no deal scenario are expected as negotiations continue ahead of the crucial European Council in October 2018. At that summit, EU27 leaders are expected to discuss progress in the negotiations and decide whether there has been sufficient progress to arrange a special summit in November to finalise a deal comprising the final terms of the Withdrawal Agreement and a political declaration on the framework for the future UK-EU economic relationship.

Source: Guidance: How to prepare if the UK leaves the EU with no deal