33 days

Today it is 33 days to Brexit when United Kingdom leaves the European Union.

If nothing else happens before, 66 million Europeans – the population of UK – leave the EU on 29 March 2019 at 11pm.

There is naturally still a possibility that the Withdrawal Agreement (WA) – that has been negotiated – between the two parties can be approved by UK Parliament before the 29 March.

There will be a second Meaningful Vote in the House of Commons about the proposal. The date for the vote is still not decided. A few dates in this following weeks, 26 and 27 February have been mentioned as potential days for the vote, however it is not likely that the vote will happen this week.

PM May has said that she will present new information about the process this week. The clock is ticking. It will be difficult but I am positive. There are rumours about a new statement regarding the Irish back-stop for either the political statement or a third document. The key will be to find and articulate a legally binding comprimise around the back-stop in line with the Brady ammendment and its ‘alternative arrangements’. I am convinced that Malthouse and techniques/technology will have to be part of such a solution.

There are voices in the UK for asking the EU for a delay of article 50. This is for various reasons difficult for EU.

In the meantime preparations for a no-deal Brexit continues on both sides. A lot of temporary routines have been published, especially from UK Government in attempts to mitigate problems if this happens. It is important to note that it is highly likely that there will be major challenges regarding speed and predictability – there will be queues – in case of a no-deal Brexit. There will be tariffs and non-tariff barriers, both border formalities (like e.g. different types of declarations) and inspections.

What happens when we are fast travelling towards a date that we know will change everything?

More and more people are now realizing that this can actually happen.

It is essential that all companies involved in trade between UK and EU, do an individual analysis on the consequences. Be as prepared as possible.

And continue to read up on Brexit, here and in other places. We have another important and interesting week ahead of us.