Minister criticises businesses for taking a ‘low energy’ approach to Post-Brexit trade.

The Treasury and Cabinet Office Minister Lord Agnew has recently stated that operators “Must engage in a more energetic way” to be ready for the end of the Brexit transitional period on 31 December.

This comment has caused uproar within the industry with Chief Executive of Food and Drink Federation Scotland, David Thomson calling the comments “Outrageous”

As of today, the UK and EU are still conducting trade talks in an attempt to negotiate a post-Brexit trade deal.
Lord David Frost, the UK’s chief negotiator has been in Brussels for further discussions with the Prime Minister’s office saying he believes “there was still a deal to be done”.

Boris Johnson stated that he believed the talks were at a “crucial stage”, however, he has set a deadline of today (15/10/2020) for a deal to be completed or the UK may be forced to “walk away”.

The European Minister for Germany, Michael Roth advised on Tuesday that the EU was preparing for a worst-case scenario if the EU and UK are unable to come to an agreement before the deadline.

It is important to note however, that both sides have made clear that they want a deal and agreement to be in place.

The UK is still within its transitional period when we left the EU on the 31 January this year, meaning that we continue to abide by the EU rules and regulations while a trade deal continued to be negotiated.

As a worst case scenario, if an agreement is not made by the end of the transitional period, the UK will be forced to trade with the EU with WTO rules and is something the Prime Minister has stated “holds no fear” but his harshest critics fear that this may damage the economy even further, something that must not happen with the COVID-19 pandemic already seriously affecting the economy faster than we have seen in history.

It remains to be seen if a deal can be reached by the end of the day deadline.

There is a lot resting on making a deal with the bloc so, whatever the decision, time will tell if it will be good or bad for the future of the UK and it's economy.
 
 

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