EU outlines its plan for ‘no deal’ Brexit

The European Commission says it is increasingly likely that the United Kingdom will leave the European Union without a deal on 12 April and it has outlined its “no-deal” preparations.

Its statement read: “The EU will be required to immediately apply its rules and tariffs at its borders with the UK, which would then be a third country. This includes checks and controls for customs, sanitary and phytosanitary standards and verification of compliance with EU norms. There will be no transition period, as provided for in the Withdrawal Agreement.”

Specific measures planned by the EU relevant to the logistics industry include:

-      Air connectivity and safety: these two measures will ensure basic air connectivity in order to avoid full interruption of air traffic between the EU and the UK in the event of a “no-deal” scenario. 

-      Road connectivity: allows for the continuation of safe basic road connectivity between the EU and the UK for a limited period of time, provided that the UK gives reciprocal treatment to EU companies and operators.

-      Rail connectivity: ensures the validity of safety authorisations for certain parts of rail infrastructure for a strictly limited period of three months to allow long-term solutions in line with EU law to be put in place. This is, in particular, related to the Channel Tunnel and will be conditional on the United Kingdom maintaining safety standards identical to EU requirements.

-      Ship inspections: this aims to ensure legal certainty and secure business continuity in shipping.

-      Re-alignment of the North Sea – Mediterranean Core Network Corridor: This adds new maritime links between Ireland, France, Belgium and the Netherlands to the core network, and introduces a new funding priority to the Connecting Europe Facility (CEF): adapting transport infrastructure for security and external border check purposes.