The European Commission has told EU Member States to speed up preparation for the United Kingdom’s withdrawal from the EU next March, amid deepening fears of a ‘no-deal’ Brexit.
Both the UK and EU sides agree that a no-deal outcome is now a more likely outcome than it looked just a few months ago.
A special communique issued on July 19 calls on Member States and private parties, including business operators, to step up preparations, and follows a request by the European Council (Article 50) last month to intensify preparedness at all levels and for all outcomes.
The EU says it is “working day and night for a deal ensuring an orderly withdrawal” but adds that Britain’s exit from the Union will “undoubtedly cause disruption in business supply chains – whether or not there is a deal”.
The Commission points out that even if an agreement is reached with the UK over the terms of the withdrawal, Britain will still switch to ‘Third Country’status. It adds: “Therefore, preparing for the UK becoming a third country is of paramount importance, even in the case of a deal between the EU and the UK.”
The Commission has also published over 60 sector-specific preparedness notices – including organic food, health products and GMOs – to “inform the public about the consequences of the UK’s withdrawal in the absence of any withdrawal agreement”.
UK organic sector warns of Brexit ‘worst-case scenario’
Earlier this year Britain’s biggest organic certifier said that it was urgently preparing contingencies for a Brexit “worst-case scenario” in which the UK organic sector could be shut out of its biggest market.
The chief executive of Soil Association Certification, Martin Sawyer, told NPG that a no-deal outcome, resulting in no transitional arrangements, would “effectively changes the status of the UK and the whole organic regulatory space…“Technically… the UK would not be able to export organic product into Europe”