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ARTICLE · 03 JANUARY 2019

Business And Brexit: EU Summit Approval – Does Anything Change In Practice?

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On 25 November 2018, both the draft Withdrawal Agreement and the non-binding Political Declaration on future EU-UK relations were endorsed by EU27 leaders at an EU summit in Brussels.

European UnionGovernment, Public Sector
Sharon Whitehouse
Sharon Whitehouse
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On 25 November 2018, both the draft Withdrawal Agreement and the non-binding Political Declaration on future EU-UK relations were endorsed by EU27 leaders at an EU summit in Brussels.

What does this mean for Italian and other EU27-based businesses, looking in at a process that may affect significantly their trading relationship with clients or customers in the UK, or their subsidiaries or other business interests operating within the UK?

In terms of removing the continued uncertainty for businesses, the EU endorsement was a necessary step but far from a sufficient one. Approval by the UK remains a vastly uncertain and highly politicised process.

If businesses can (somehow) set aside the political uncertainty, a reading of the draft Withdrawal Agreement and Political Declaration would be a relatively reassuring exercise. The draft Withdrawal Agreement postpones the vast majority of practical changes until the end of the proposed transition period (31 December

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