On Thursday 23 August, the British government published 25 technical notices to assist economic and other players in society to prepare for the possible scenario of no agreement with the EU.
On the same day, the British Brexit minister Dominic Raab told the BBC that he was nonetheless “confident” that an agreement could be reached with the European negotiators and that progress had been made at every round of talks. On Tuesday 21 August, he and his counterpart Michel Barnier, also announced that they would now be negotiating continuously rather than the timely discussion sessions staggered over a few days that they have carried out previously (see EUROPE 12078).
The British government's technical notices cover all areas in which disturbances will be possible in the event of 'no-deal', namely agriculture, taxation, obtaining European funding for research programmes, medical devices and medication, as well as studying in the EU or the United Kingdom. By way of introduction, it explains that it considers a no-deal scenario as unlikely, as it would be against the “mutual interests of the UK and the EU”, but that it is their duty, with only eight months to go until the official date of withdrawal from the EU, to set out the consequences of such a no-deal scenario.
This was echoed by the Commission on Thursday, when reacting to the publication of these technical notices. Stressing that it is working constructively towards securing an agreement, the Commission acknowledged that Brexit would inevitably have repercussions, whether or not there is an agreement, its spokesperson Alexander Winterstein pointed out.
The Commission itself published a communication on the no-deal scenario in July.
In its preamble, the British government points out that it has already acted on its “duty to prepare [the UK) for all scenarios”, for instance having prepared the necessary budget (an extra £3 billion) to ensure that “departments and the devolved administrations [can] prepare effectively for Brexit”. This money comes on top of the £700 million previously made available for preparations over the official two years of negotiations. The country has made other provisions to this effect, such as the 2018 law on nuclear safeguards, which establishes a British nuclear safeguard regime when the country leaves Euratom, according to the government of Theresa May. The documents can be consulted at https://bit.ly/2o5Wl65 . (Original version in French by Solenn Paulic)