Today, the UK Government released the second of three batches of technical notes about the impact of a “no deal” scenario at the end of March 2019. These are available here. This second batch is of 28 and includes notes on civil judicial cooperation, broadcasting rights, data protection, telecoms and oil and gas.
As explained in our blog post on the first batch of technical notes (see here), the UK’s notes contain information on what the UK Government plans to do, unilaterally, to assist affected businesses and individuals through temporary waivers and derogations. For example, in this latest release:
- in civil judicial cooperation the Government reiterates that the UK will formally apply to re-join the Hague Convention on Choice of Court Agreements 2005 in its own right, which it notes will come into force by 1 April 2019 (there being a gap in coverage of 2 days only). This will in many areas provide alternative rules covering the same areas as the existing EU regime. We will shortly release a separate blog post on this issue.
- in data protection the Government confirms that in recognition of the unprecedented degree of alignment between the UK and EU’s data protection regimes, the UK would at the point of exit continue to allow the free flow of personal data from the UK to the EU (to be kept under review). The EU has not yet made the equivalent suggestion in relation to the free flow of personal data from the EU to the UK without restriction in a no deal.
As the clock ticks down to 29 March 2019, the UK and the EU are stepping up their preparations for the possibility of a “no-deal” outcome. From a corporate governance and risk management perspective, businesses that have not done so already should carry out a Brexit assurance process in order to identify all Brexit-related risks and, to the extent practicable, take appropriate and timely steps to respond to them. This article summarises at a high level the kinds of issues more generally that we are coming across in helping clients plan for a ‘no-deal’ Brexit. It supplements our pamphlet, Delivering Brexit: Putting Plans into Practice.
Should you wish to discuss how Brexit affects you and what to do in response, please get in touch. To keep up to date with our latest Brexit analysis, subscribe to our Brexit blog.
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