Brexit timeline outlining all the updates as they unfolded on ‘how hard might a hard Brexit be?’
Update as of 28 November 2018:
Negotiations on the terms of a deal in which the UK will leave the EU were agreed in November 2018 with the EU27. The Agreement on the withdrawal of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland from the European Union and the European Atomic Energy Community, as endorsed by leaders at a special meeting of the European Council on 25 November 2018.
The terms of a future relationship with the EU remain to be negotiated, in accordance with the Political Declaration setting out the framework for the future relationship between the European Union and the United Kingdom. The deal has to be put to each House of Parliament and depending on the outcome, the UK Government may be unable to proceed with it. It is therefore still a possibility that when the UK ceases to be a member of the EU automatically as a result of the two-year period triggered by the notice under Article 50 of the EU Treaty coming to an end in 2019, there will simply be no terms of agreement on any matter between the UK and the EU.
This would be the hardest possible of Brexits and would have political and legal consequences that would require to be addressed over a long period of time.
Institutions in the EU and UK are making contingency plans for the possibility of a hard Brexit; and the possibility of no withdrawal agreement is now explicitly recognised on the face of the EU (Withdrawal) Act 2018 – s.13.
Update as of 27 June 2018:
There is presently a significant possibility that negotiations on the terms of a deal, both as to the terms of withdrawal and the terms of a future relationship with the EU, will break down politically. It is therefore still a possibility that when the UK ceases to be a member of the EU automatically as a result of the two-year period triggered by the notice under Article 50 of the EU Treaty coming to an end in 2019, there will simply be no terms of agreement on any matter between the UK and the EU.
This would be the hardest possible of Brexits and would have political and legal consequences that would require to be addressed over a long period of time.
Institutions in the EU and UK appear to be making plans for the possibility of a hard Brexit; and the possibility of no withdrawal agreement is now explicitly recognised on the face of the EU (Withdrawal) Act 2018 – s.13.
Update as of 26 January 2018:
There is presently a significant possibility that negotiations on the terms of a deal, both as to the terms of withdrawal and the terms of a future relationship with the EU, will break down politically. It is therefore still a possibility that when the UK ceases to be a member of the EU automatically as a result of the two-year period triggered by the notice under Article 50 of the EU Treaty coming to an end in 2019, there will simply be no terms of agreement on any matter between the UK and the EU.
This would be the hardest possible of Brexits and would have political and legal consequences that would require to be addressed over a long period of time.
