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Brexit: Substantial challenge with or without deal Foreign Affairs Minister Simon Coveney has warned that Ireland must prepare for the “real possibility” of trading with Great Britain on WTO terms on 1 January, as talks between the EU and UK continue to stutter. Coveney said that he remained hopeful that an agreement could be reached between the EU and UK but admitted that little progress appears to have been made on the main sticking points which have to date prevented an agreement. The Minister has outlined the need for preparedness from businesses for the significant changes on how business will be conducted between Ireland and Great Britain, even if an agreement is reached. In September the Government published its Brexit Readiness Action Plan, which highlighted that even the securing of a
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free trade agreement between the EU and the UK would bring “substantial challenges for supply chains and trade flows and will require checks and controls in both directions on EU-UK trade”. “In practice, this will mean that every time an Irish company or individual imports from, or exports to, Great Britain they will need to (at least) complete a customs declaration. A limited FTA would not address the full range of the EU’s relations with the UK,” the Government states. In the eventuality of a no deal scenario “immediate and disorderly change” would
occur in the way the EU and UK trade and engage. Trade on WTO rules would see the addition of tariffs and quotas on trade in both directions, with significant impacts on Irish trade, notably in the agri-food sector. In early October, hopes for a deal appeared to be dead after Prime Minister Boris Johnson said that Brussels had “abandoned” the talks by taking unacceptable positions including that only the UK needed to make concessions. The outburst by Johnson came after an EU summit where leaders signalled a
