The member of the negotiating team of the European Commission for Brexit, Celine Gauer, explained this Monday in Madrid that the EU is confident in its capacity to reach an agreement for an orderly departure of the United Kingdom, but it is essential that both administrations and companies have contingency plans for a no-deal Brexit situation. She stressed that the Commission "will not offer compensations to those who failed to prepare."
Celine Gauer, the Secretary of State for Trade, said this in the framework of an informative meeting, in which the representative said that the Commission already presented its contingency plan in November last year. In this plan, it has been considered of special interest to maintain links between the EU and the United Kingdom, so work is being carried out on specific measures that would make it possible for both road and air traffic to remain as fluid as possible.
She also stressed that the Commission will not undertake separate negotiations by sectors and that all measures included in this contingency plan are temporary and should not, in principle, remain in force beyond the end of 2019, as there needs to be a new definitive relationship with the United Kingdom as a third country.
The representative of the Commission insisted that the administrations of the Member States and the operators must be prepared to meet all the necessary requirements, so that in case of a no-deal Brexit, they can continue to export to the United Kingdom as if it were a third country, insisting also on the fact that there will be border controls. The goal is for transit across the border to be as smooth as possible, although she said that there will be random physical controls.
Celine Gauer also explained that the United Kingdom has told the European Commission that it has great interest in maintaining the current commercial flow, without any obstructions. The United Kingdom is also expected to maintain the same export requirements as those of EU legislation for a while.
At the meeting, the Spanish Secretary of State for Trade, Xiana Margarida Méndez Bertolo, explained that the Government is finalizing a draft Royal Decree Law with measures against Brexit, which includes some intended to facilitate logistics and the commercial flow.
FEPEX said that, in case there is a no-deal Brexit, it would be very useful to be able to present all the necessary documentation for export online, including customs declarations, phytosanitary certificates and certificates of conformity. This would help prevent bottlenecks in the controls carried out at the points of entry and exit from the United Kingdom.
