Tom van der Wijngaart considers the current status of Brexit
negotiations and associated challenges for the aviation sector
It has been two years since the majority of the UK's voting
public elected to leave the European Union, with the Brexit date
now looming on 30 March 2019. On 19 March 2018, the UK and the EU
announced that an agreement had been reached in principle regarding
a 21-month transition period which would extend Brexit until 31
December 2020, with the status quo to be largely maintained in the
interim. As the colour-coded draft of the Withdrawal Agreement
shows, the negotiators have yet to reach a landing on a number of
important subjects, including the Irish border and police and
judicial cooperation. If a final text of the Withdrawal Agreement
is negotiated by October 2018, as appears to be the intention, that
leaves only some six months to seek the requisite UK and EU
Parliamentary approval. It remains to be seen whether that
timeframe is realistic.
