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EU publishes no-deal Brexit plans

[ December 21, 2018   //   ]

The European Commission published contingency plans in the event of a no deal Brexit published by the European Commission on 19 December. They included a nine-month permit free period for road haulage and measures to allow UK airlines to operate in and out of the EU, but not within it.
Customs measures include a regulation to include the seas surrounding the UK within the time-limits for summary declarations and pre-departure declarations lodged prior to leaving or entering the Union’s customs territory and a proposal to add the UK to the list of countries for which EU dual use export authorisations are valid.
It adds however, that Member States should be in a position to apply the Union Customs Code and rules for indirect taxation in relation to the UK.
Freight Transport Association head of European policy and Brexit, Pauline Bastidon said however that the “very limited” plans “will not allow trade to flow freely between the UK and EU”. The proposals fall short of what would be necessary to keep trade moving.
It added: “The proposals for aviation and road haulage, which FTA had relentlessly campaigned for in Brussels and other European capitals, are only temporary and could be revoked by the European Commission at any time. Member states are banned from negotiating more permanent agreements with the UK or going above and beyond the minimal rights granted in the European Commission’s proposal. Furthermore, the proposals need to be adopted by the European Council and the European Parliament and are therefore not something operators and traders could rely on at this stage – there is a risk they could be rejected by either institution.”
Bastidon continued: “Member states are simply told that they will have a duty to enforce the full customs and regulatory regime on day one of a no-deal Brexit. No consideration is given to a potential ‘light touch’ approach in the short term; considering the level of preparedness of infrastructure at the borders (on both sides), taking such an approach is likely to be a recipe for disaster.
“Furthermore, the scope of the proposals is very limited: only UK-EU and EU-UK haulage routes will be covered, and UK registered operators will only be able to perform intra-EU international deliveries if they are in possession of an ECMT permit – and the number of these to be allocated to UK hauliers would only cover a small fraction of the needs of the industry. Cabotage will be effectively prohibited, meaning that operators based in Northern Ireland would not be able to access the domestic Irish haulage market, and vice versa.”

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