Wake Smith chairman Nick Lambert looks at the latest Brexit news...
This week is being billed as crunch time for the Prime Minister's crucial talks with the EU on his proposed, revised Brexit deal.
The key reason for the urgency is that the Benn Act, which effectively forces the Prime Minister to seek an extension to the 31 October deadline for the UK to exit the EU, has Saturday 19 October as its own deadline for Boris Johnson to have 'concluded an agreement with the European Union under Article 50(2)'.
Despite the urgency that this places on negotiations, so far this week the EU's Michel Barnier has said that a deal is possible but 'more difficult' to achieve in the short timeframe, however damage to the public's confidence in Parliament will suffer further if the 31 October deadline is not met.
If a deal is not concluded by 19 October, there will almost certainly be another delay until at least January 2020 for the UK's departure from the EU, leading to several more months of uncertainty for UK businesses.
Hints from EU officials are focusing on a potential 'holding pattern statement' at the EU leaders two day summit which starts on Thursday, with a sentiment of 'we've made progress in negotiations but still need more time'.
This may go some way to reducing the likelihood of any EU member state using its veto to block a further extension to the UK's exit date, as it will appear that progress is being made.
If a deal should be satisfactorily concluded this week, the details will still need to pass through the House of Commons and the House of Lords, but Parliament is clear on only one thing, that there is still resistance from many politicians to any form of deal with or exit from the EU - and at least one party, the Liberal Democrats, are standing on a manifesto pledge to overturn Brexit entirely.
The sticking point in the negotiations is almost entirely around the border between Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland. The EU does not accept Britain's proposals for operating customs in Ireland.
A UK blueprint presented on this issue, sees Northern Ireland becoming a dual customs zone working to both EU and UK customs procedures. This requires tracking all goods that enter Northern Ireland and then introducing differentiated tariff rebates depending on where those goods are destined for – be it in Northern Ireland or into the EU’s single market.
The EU stance on the British proposals are that its complexity is unworkable and that it may lead to fraud at the EU's expense. A second sticking point is that there is yet to be a workable proposal acceptable to either side on how Northern Irish citizens can be offered a legitimate say on the border arrangements.
Brexit updates from Nick Lambert, Chairman at Wake Smith Solicitors.
