No-deal Brexit

A no-deal Brexit (also called a clean-break Brexit)[1] was the potential withdrawal of the United Kingdom (UK) from the European Union (EU) without a withdrawal agreement. Under Article 50 of the Maastricht Treaty, the Treaties of the European Union would have ceased to apply once a withdrawal agreement was ratified or if the two years had passed since a member state had indicated its will to leave the European Union. The two-year period could have been extended by unanimous consent from all member states, including the member state that was wishing to leave the European Union.

Without such an agreement in place at the end of the period specified in Article 50, EU law and other agreements would have ceased to apply to the established interactions between the UK and the rest of the EU. Additionally, British interactions with non-EU countries that had been governed by EU agreements with those countries may have needed to be renegotiated, as well.

Short-term (90-day) cross-border travel for tourism was expected to continue as before, albeit with some inconvenience to aviation schedules. While trading of goods (though not services) could have continued to operate under World Trade Organization (WTO) most favoured nation rules, some significant disruption to established trade flows was anticipated and the UK and the EU had prepared agreements and (short-term) understandings for the more serious risks anticipated to arise. Operation Yellowhammer was the codename used by HM Treasury for cross-government civil contingency planning for the possibility of a no-deal Brexit.[2][3]

A renegotiated withdrawal agreement was ratified by Parliament in January 2020, and Brexit occurred at 23:00 GMT on 31 January 2020 (00:00 CET on 1 February). A Brexit transition period began at that point, to allow the sides to negotiate a trade agreement and to give time for the sides to prepare for the consequences of that agreement.

On 24 December 2020, the President of the European Commission and the Prime Minister of the UK agreed in principle to a draft EU–UK Trade and Cooperation Agreement. The Parliament of the United Kingdom ratified this agreement on 30 December 2020 and the European Parliament ratified it in late April 2021.[4] The EU and UK agreed to apply the draft agreement with effect from 1 January 2021.

  1. ^ BBC. (2019). Brexit: Jargon-busting guide to the key terms (BBC). Retrieved 29 March 2019.
  2. ^ "MoD hosts no-deal planning in bunker". BBC News. 21 March 2019. Archived from the original on 30 March 2019. Retrieved 22 March 2019.
  3. ^ Rowena Mason (18 August 2019). "No-deal Brexit: key points of Operation Yellowhammer report". The Guardian. Retrieved 20 August 2019.
  4. ^ Council of the European Union (29 April 2021). "EU-UK trade and cooperation agreement: Council adopts decision on conclusion". europa.eu (Press release).