Ask the experts
Q i currently have a British registered motor boat which i keep in France and am considering whether to continue to keep it there after Brexit or to bring it back home.
i am also considering a replacement boat and don’t know whether to keep it in England or in France – or indeed where to register it. can you provide any information that might help my decision making regarding the situation on keeping boats abroad in the Eu, or their importation into Britain after Brexit. Stuart Carruthers replies:
Although we at the RYA have been pressing the Government for greater clarity on its white paper we’ve been politely told that ‘any further announcements on changes to tax legislation arising from EU Exit negotiations will be made as and when progress in discussions with the EU enables the Government to do so’.
What we do know is that Brexit will affect those things that the EU controls, which includes border controls, VAT and the movement of goods and people. Things like boating qualifications, boat registration and insurance are all matters for domestic/ national legislation. Changing your boat’s country of registration will depend on flag state rules concerning eligibility and will bring your boat under that administration’s maritime legislation (as the flag state).
You will also need to comply with the maritime legislation of the country in which the boat is being used (the coastal state) – this might mean holding qualifications specified by the flag state which might have to be taken in their language. There may also be compulsory manning and carriage requirements dependent on where you wish to voyage.
We believe that a boat that has the customs status of Union goods and is lying in the EU on Brexit day will continue to retain that status. Freedom of movement throughout the European Union (EU) is a basic principal of the EU, which applies both to goods made and supplied in the Union and to goods which have been imported and released for free circulation. So boats bought and sold in EU should be OK if they move within the EU territory and temporarily outside of it provided customs status is proven.
The RYA has been in discussions with Government and parliamentarians to emphasise the importance of boats maintaining the status of Union goods after the UK exits the European Union, but as yet it is unclear whether that will be the case. It’s therefore too early to say what restrictions, if any, there will be after Brexit.