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ARTICLE · 22 MARCH 2018

A Green, Yellow And White Brexit

Travers Smith LLP
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On Monday, EU and UK negotiators published a colour-coded draft of the Withdrawal Agreement – green for provisions which are largely agreed already, yellow for provisions ...

United KingdomGovernment, Public Sector
Jonathan Rush
Jonathan Rush
Rachel Woodburn
Rachel Woodburn
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On Monday, EU and UK negotiators published a colour-coded draft of the Withdrawal Agreement – green for provisions which are largely agreed already, yellow for provisions where there is agreement on the policy but the wording may change, and white for areas where there is no agreement at this stage. Clearly, progress has been made – but how much comfort can you take from Monday's announcement? In particular, given that agreement appears to have been reached on the transition period, is it better to wait and see rather than commit time and resources to contingency plans?

The perils of "wait and see"

It is encouraging that agreement appears to have been reached on the transition period – but as any lawyer will tell you, it is often the last 10-20% of any agreement which takes up most of the time.  In this case, a number of highly controversial issues remain unresolved, including the role of the ECJ and the border between Northern lreland and the Republic of Ireland

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