EU PLAN TO COPE WITH NO-DEAL DOOMSDAY SCENARIO

AIR TRAVEL

British airlines would be allowed to operate flights between the UK and EU countries. However, they would be barred from flying between EU airports, or operating services from Europe to the US. The EU says its efforts to accommodate UK airlines will ‘only ensure basic connectivity’.

THE NORTH

The EU’s PEACE program will continue to apply here. This is a social initiative aimed at increasing the cohesion and opportunities of cross-border communities. No mention is made of what will happen at the border. In the absence of an agreement hard border checks could be applied.

BRITISH PEOPLE HERE

The commission warned that UK nationals living in the bloc will be subject to its rules on the ‘right to enter, reside and work in the EU Member States’. UK nationals in EU countries should be granted ‘temporary residence status’ while their new immigration status is determined. For short stays (up to 90 days in a 180-day period) the commission has adopted a proposal for a Regulation 13, which exempts UK nationals from visa requirements, providing that all EU citizens are exempted from UK visa requirements. But Ireland has a decades-old Common Travel Area with Britain.

BENEFITS

The commission says there should be ‘social security coordination’ with regards to EU citizens in the UK. It says that member states should ‘take all possible steps to ensure legal certainty and to protect the rights acquired by EU27 citizens and UK nationals who exercised their right to free movement before March 30, 2019’.

FINANCIAL SERVICES

In an attempt to protect ‘financial stability’, the commission says traders should be granted ‘equivalence’ for 12 months ensuring ‘no immediate disruption in the central clearing of derivatives’.

HAULAGE

The paper says road haulage will be ‘severely restricted’ by no deal, and to ensure ‘basic connectivity’ the EU would grant a nine-month access for UK hauliers to the bloc.

CUSTOMS CHECKS

The Commission says all UK goods entering the EU must be subject to customs checks and tariffs: it says member states must take ‘all necessary steps’ to be in a position to apply the Union Customs Code and the relevant rules regarding indirect taxation in relation to the United Kingdom.