Brussels has warned that it might shut down the ability of a host of businesses to operate across the European Union if Britain leaves it without a deal in 2019. The memos included a wide range of warnings for various industries, from pharmaceuticals and fisheries to aviation and haulage.
The bottom line is that those businesses that desire to continue operating within the bloc will have to create EU entities.
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The disclaimers have sparked outrage among champions of Brexit, such as David Davis. The Brexit secretary accused the EU of taking measures that could put businesses and existing contracts in peril if the parties fail to reach a compromise and seal a deal.
“The EU has adopted a number of measures that put agreements or contracts at risk of being terminated in the event of a ‘no deal’ scenario and/or would require UK companies to relocate to another member state,” Davis wrote in a letter addressed to Prime Minister Theresa May.
By no surprise, Davis’s letter was leaked online.
Here's the leaked letter from Davis to May about the threat to British jobs from EU "no deal" preparations pic.twitter.com/EFbzu3vhzC
— Jim Pickard (@PickardJE) 8 января 2018 г.
While he blamed the bloc for making preparations for a no-deal scenario, the EU Commission spokesperson said “We are surprised that the UK is surprised that we are preparing for a scenario announced by the UK government itself.” Theresa May, for her part, has repeatedly outlined that “no deal is better than a bad deal.”
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The majority of the population voted in the June 2016 referendum to leave the European Union. Since June 2017, Britain and the EU have been negotiating new arrangements for the future relationship between UK and the bloc. The Brexit date has been set for March 29, 2019.
