Brexit: Commission Calls on Member States to Prepare for UK’s Withdrawal from the EU

The UK’s withdrawal from the EU will have repercussions for citizens, businesses and administrations in both the United Kingdom and the EU. – European Commission

The European Commission recently called on Member States and private parties to intensify preparedness at all levels and for all outcomes of the United Kingdom’s withdrawal from the European Union (Brexit).

On 30 March 2019, the United Kingdom will leave the EU and become a third country.

According to the Commission, the UK’s withdrawal from the EU will have repercussions for citizens, businesses and administrations in both the United Kingdom and the EU. The repercussions range from new controls at the EU’s outer border with the UK, to the validity of UK-issued licences, certificates and authorisations and to different rules for data transfers.

“The UK’s withdrawal will undoubtedly cause disruption – for example in business supply chains – whether or not there is a deal,” the Commission said.

“As there is still no certainty that there will be a ratified withdrawal agreement in place on that date, or what it will entail, preparations have been ongoing to try to ensure that the EU institutions, Member States and private parties are prepared for the UK’s withdrawal.”

The Commission underlined that stakeholders, as well as national and EU authorities, need to prepare for two possible main scenarios:

– If the Withdrawal Agreement is ratified before 30 March 2019, EU law will cease to apply to and in the UK on 1 January 2021, i.e. after a transition period of 21 months.

– If the Withdrawal Agreement is not ratified before 30 March 2019, there will be no transition period and EU law will cease to apply to and in the UK as of 30 March 2019. This is referred to as the “no deal” or “cliff-edge” scenario.

The Commission said that over the past year it has screened the entire Union acquis (body of EU law) to examine whether any changes are needed in light of the UK’s withdrawal. To that effect, the Commission has adopted (and will adopt whenever necessary) specific, targeted legislative proposals to ensure that EU rules continue to function smoothly in a Union of 27 after the UK’s withdrawal.

Morover, by 30 March 2019 the two London-based agencies – the European Medicines Agency and the European Banking Authority – as well as other UK-based bodies, like the Galileo Security Monitoring Centre, will be leaving the UK and a number of tasks performed by UK authorities will also have to be reassigned away from the UK.