Report warns of negative impact of no-deal Brexit
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A new report co-written by an academic from Goldsmiths, University of London has set out the potential negative impact a no-deal Brexit would have across a range of sectors in Britain.
A Banksy mural in Dover. Image: Paul Bissegger via Creative Commons
Dr Michaela Benson is a member of the academic think tank The UK in a Changing Europe which has published the Cost of No Deal Revisited paper.
The 34-page report warns no deal – where the UK fails to sign a withdrawal agreement from the EU – could lead to a “chaotic Brexit” where many of the rules underpinning the UK’s economic and regulatory structures may disappear without being replaced.
The paper says this could affect agriculture, financial services, air transport, medicines and impact EU citizens in the UK and British citizens living elsewhere in Europe.
The think tank says under no deal the EU is unlikely in the extreme to countenance negotiation of “mini deals” to mitigate the impact of no deal as long as the key withdrawal issues remain unresolved.
Dr Benson is currently leading the Brexit Brits Abroad research project which examines what Brexit, as it unfolds, entails for British citizens living and working in the EU-27, exploring in particular questions of citizenship, identity and belonging. The project is funded by UK in a Changing Europe and the ESRC.
This work led to the Immigration and the status of EU and UK citizens section of the new report.
Dr Benson said: "In the case of a no-deal Brexit, British citizens already living and working in the EU-27 would find themselves in legal limbo.
"Citizens’ rights are a cornerstone of the withdrawal agreement, but at present EU member states have yet to establish the administrative and legal mechanisms that would be required to implement the provisions set out to secure the continued legal status of these UK citizens.
"Understandably, for those whose lives and livelihoods have until now rested on their rights as EU citizens, the prospect of no deal aggravates concerns over the terms on which they will be able to live their lives in the places they live and work."