Brexit: Simple guide
For those who feel a little lost the UK leaving the European Union (EU) here is this.
What is Brexit?
As you can guess, it is short for “British Exit”. And this is a word referring to the whole Britain’s decision of leaving the EU -the EU is a political and economical union involving 28 European countries. It allows free trade, which means goods can move between member countries without any checks or extra charges. The EU also allows free movement of people, to live and work in whichever country they choose.
The UK joined the EU, then known as the EEC (European Economic Community), in 1973. Now the United Kingdom is the first country to withdraw.
Why is the UK leaving?
A public vote (known as a referendum) was held in June 2016, when 17.4 million people opted for Brexit. This gave the Leave side 52%, compared with 48% for Remain. Since then the negotiations have been taking place over the “Withdrawal Agreement” deal. Now let’s come to what does the Withdrawal Agreement included:
- The “Citizens’ Rights” part (Articles 9–39) contains provisions protecting the status and rights of EU and UK citizens and their family members under Union law.
- The government can negotiate the Agreement as it wants without parliament approval.
- the amount the UK will contribute to the EU budget
- A transition period until the end of 2020. which has been agreed to allow the UK and EU to agree a trade deal and to give businesses the time to adjust; That means that if the withdrawal agreement gets the green light, there will be no huge changes between the date of Brexit and 31 December 2020.
- Arrangements for the border and cooperation between Ireland and Northern Ireland.
Britain’s due date to leave the European Union was on 29th March, but because of the members of the parliament (MP) rejection of the deal they were forced o ask EU leaders to delay Brexit which later happened in 31 January 2020.
What happens now?
A transition period is now in place until 31 December 2020. During the transition period, all EU rules and regulations will continue to apply to the UK. Virtually nothing will change for businesses or for the public. This will give everyone more time to prepare themselves for the new agreements that the EU and the UK will conclude concerning their future relationship after 31 December 2020. If both the UK and the EU agree, this transition period may be extended once by two years, meaning it could remain in place until 31 December 2022.
There will be more clarity on the new relationship between the EU and the UK only once this phase of the negotiations has been completed. The new agreements will enter into force after the transition period.
If no agreement is reached about the future relationship between the UK and EU, there will be a ‘no deal’ Brexit after the transition period. Meaning immediately leaving the European Union (EU) with no agreement about the “divorce” process.
