• Advertise
  • Contact Us
  • About Us
  • Supplier Directory
  • Login
  • Subscribe
  • Logout
  • My Profile

  • CORONAVIRUS
  • LOGISTICS
    • Air Cargo
    • All Logistics
    • Express/Small Shipments
    • Facility Location Planning
    • Freight Forwarding/Customs Brokerage
    • Global Gateways
    • Global Logistics
    • Last Mile Delivery
    • Logistics Outsourcing
    • LTL/Truckload Services
    • Ocean Transportation
    • Rail & Intermodal
    • Reverse Logistics
    • Service Parts Management
    • Transportation & Distribution
  • TECHNOLOGY
    • All Technology
    • Artificial Intelligence
    • Cloud & On-Demand Systems
    • Data Management
    • ERP & Enterprise Systems
    • Forecasting & Demand Planning
    • Global Trade Management
    • Inventory Planning/ Optimization
    • Product Lifecycle Management
    • Sales & Operations Planning
    • SC Finance & Revenue Management
    • SC Planning & Optimization
    • Sourcing/Procurement/SRM
    • Supply Chain Visibility
    • Transportation Management
  • GENERAL SCM
    • Business Strategy Alignment
    • Education & Professional Development
    • Global Supply Chain Management
    • Global Trade & Economics
    • HR & Labor Management
    • Quality & Metrics
    • Regulation & Compliance
    • SC Security & Risk Mgmt
    • Sustainability & Corporate Social Responsibility
  • WAREHOUSING
    • All Warehouse Services
    • Conveyors & Sortation
    • Lift Trucks & AGVs
    • Order Fulfillment
    • Packaging
    • RFID, Barcode, Mobility & Voice
    • Robotics
    • Warehouse Management Systems
  • INDUSTRIES
    • Aerospace & Defense
    • Apparel
    • Automotive
    • Chemicals & Energy
    • Consumer Packaged Goods
    • E-Commerce/Omni-Channel
    • Food & Beverage
    • Healthcare
    • High-Tech/Electronics
    • Industrial Manufacturing
    • Pharmaceutical/Biotech
    • Retail
  • REGIONS
    • Asia Pacific
    • Canada
    • China
    • Europe
    • Latin America
    • Middle East/Africa
    • North America
  • THINK TANK
  • PODCASTS
  • VIDEOS
  • WHITEPAPERS
Home » The Path to an EU-U.K. Trade Deal After Brexit in 2020: A Timeline

The Path to an EU-U.K. Trade Deal After Brexit in 2020: A Timeline

The Path to an EU-U.K. Trade Deal After Brexit in 2020: Timeline
January 2, 2020
Bloomberg

The new year will feature not only the U.K.’s withdrawal from the European Union at long last — by Jan. 31 — but also a number of dates for determining the EU’s trade ties with post-Brexit Britain after a transition period that’s slated to end in December 2020.

During the 11-month transition phase, which can be prolonged, the economic status quo will be maintained. Here are some of the key dates to remember:

Jan. 29 or 30: The European Parliament is due to approve the Brexit agreement. The vote in Brussels will be largely a formality as the assembly was closely consulted on the withdrawal deal throughout the two years of negotiations and is content with it. Should the U.K. House of Commons endorse the accord before mid-January, the EU Parliament could instead schedule its vote on Jan. 14 or 15 at a plenary session in Strasbourg, France.

Jan. 31: Deadline for the U.K.’s withdrawal from the EU. After several Brexit delays in 2019 as a result of the House of Commons’ refusal to back the Withdrawal Agreement, Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s overwhelming victory in national elections on Dec. 12 with a revised deal makes Britain’s departure by this date a virtual certainty.

Jan. 29-Feb. 1: The European Commission in Brussels will seek a mandate from EU governments for negotiations on a free-trade agreement with Britain. The key question, still being weighed within the commission, is whether this proposal should also cover the other areas such as fisheries, aviation and security that will form part of the future EU-U.K. relationship. A single mandate for the whole package would facilitate a green light by EU governments while potentially complicating any subsequent desire by the bloc to reach a quicker, narrower, deal in 2020.

Feb. 25: EU governments are due to approve a negotiating mandate for the commission, the bloc’s executive arm. The endorsement would come from the bloc’s general affairs ministers, who have handled Brexit-related work since the 2016 U.K. referendum decision to leave.

March 12: EU trade ministers hold a regular meeting in Brussels. This gathering may offer a guide to progress on the trade aspects of the EU-U.K. negotiations.

March 26-27 and June 18-19: EU summits in Brussels. These two regular meetings of the EU’s national-government leaders will be opportunities to gauge progress in the overall negotiations with Britain. The bloc has said for months that end-2020 is in all likelihood too tight a deadline for both sides to reach even just a free-trade accord.

Sometime in June: An EU-U.K. meeting at a “high level” is foreseen in the political declaration on the future relationship that accompanies the Withdrawal Agreement. This gathering, possibly among government heads, could be the political moment of truth for deciding whether to prolong the transition period beyond 2020. In the wake of his election win, Johnson said he would rule out any extension. EU officials hope he’ll show more flexibility on the matter once Brexit has taken place and the talks on the future relationship have begun.

June 30: Deadline for deciding whether to prolong the transition period by one year or two years. Forgoing the chance for any extension would revive the threat of an economically disruptive severing of U.K. ties with the EU — this time at the start of 2021.

RELATED CONTENT

RELATED VIDEOS

  • Related Articles

    EU Gives May Another Two Weeks to Avoid a No-Deal Brexit

    Here’s How a No-Deal Brexit Would Shock Virus-Hit U.K. Companies

    Brexit Talks Resume With Just Seven Weeks Left to Reach a Deal

Bloomberg

As Retail Sales Improved, Inventories Rose Less in February Than Expected

More from this author

Wake up to Coronavirus Updates and the latest Supply Chain News!

Subscribe to our Daily Newsletter

Timely, incisive articles delivered directly to your inbox.

Popular Stories

  • Coronavirus-watch-Armada

    Virus Update: Biden to Join Global Covax Initiative; India to Ship Vaccines to South Asian Nations

    Coronavirus
  • AT&T

    How the Pandemic Has Altered AT&T’s Global Sourcing Strategy

    Coronavirus
  • container port

    New Global Visibility App Sees Delays Before They Happen

    Logistics
  • U.S. Vaccine Shift Stirs New Unease as 128 Million Join Line

    U.S. Vaccine Shift Stirs New Unease as 128 Million Join Line

    Coronavirus
  • Smartphones

    Podcast | Why We Need to Ramp Up Recycling of Old Tech

    Logistics

Digital Edition

Scb home issue 27

2020 Supply Chain Innovator of the Year

VIEW THE LATEST ISSUE

Case Studies

  • LSP Saves Customer $1.5 Million a Year With MPO Global Inbound Management

  • Auto Supplier Wows Key Client Using riskmethods Supply Chain Savvy

  • Integrating Shipping and Compliance Saves Conglomerate Millions

  • How a Consumer Goods Giant Upped Its On-Time Delivery Performance

  • LSP Wows Global Client, Quickly Advances to Become End-to-End Provider

Visit Our Sponsors

6 River Systems ArcBest Armada
aThingz BluJay Burris Logistics
DSC Logistics DCSA (Digital Container Shipping Association) DHL Resilience360
Genpact GEP Honeywell Intelligrated
Infor Logility Magnitude Software
MPO Old Dominion Oliver Wight
OpenSky Ports America Purolator
QAD Precision Red Classic Riskmethods
TGW Systems Transportation Insights Watson Land Company
Westfalia Technologies Workjam Yang Ming
  • More From SCB
    • Featured Content
    • Video Library
    • Think Tank Blog
    • SupplyChainBrain Podcast
    • Whitepapers
    • Webinars
  • Digital Offerings
    • Digital Issue
    • Subscribe
    • Manage Your Subscription
    • Newsletters
  • Resources
    • Events Calendar
    • SCB's Great Supply Chain Partners
    • Supplier Directory
    • Case Study Showcase
    • Supply Chain Innovation Awards
    • 100 Great Partners Form
  • SCB Corporate
    • Advertise on SCB.COM
    • About Us
    • Privacy Policy
    • Contact Us
    • Data Sharing Opt-Out

All content copyright © 2016 - 2018 Keller International Publishing Corp All rights reserved. No reproduction, transmission or display is permitted without the written permissions of Keller International Publishing Corp

Design, CMS, Hosting & Web Development :: ePublishing