On February 1st, 2020 the UK is no longer a member of an European Union and now should be considered as a third country. However, the withdrawal agreement provides transition period which will last till 31st December 2020.
The transition period is really aimed at preparing changes and providing time to negotiate with the European Union the shape of future relations. During the transition period,in general the UK is still treated as an EU Member State (except from representation in EU institutions).
For entrepreneurs it means that nothing will change by the end of 2020 – the relationship between the European Union and the United Kingdom will remain the same as it used to be but the relationship between European Union and the United Kingdom after the transition period is yet to be known. The UK and the EU have committed themselves to negotiate the terms of trade cooperation, so everything will depend on the future free trade agreement.
It is certain that from 1st January 2021 cooperation between United Kingdom and the European Union will be different than what it is now.
The European Commission is slowly preparing entrepreneurs for changes by drawing up notes dedicated to specific issues, which show the consequences of ending the transition period for entrepreneurs regardless of the result of the free trade agreement. These notes can be found on the website: https://ec.europa.eu/info/european-union-and-united-kingdom-forging-new-partnership/future-partnership/getting-ready-end-transition-period_en.
We will follow negotations between the United Kingdom and the European Union on an ongoing basis.
Author: Karolina Kowalczyk, Trainee Attorney-at-law
