On 26 February 2019, the Prime Minister gave a statement to the House of Commons (HoC) in which she confirmed that a second meaningful vote on her Brexit deal would take place no later than 12 March 2019. Guidance on no-deal Brexit planning continued to be published throughout February.
Prime Minister makes commitment to offer votes on no-deal Brexit and Article 50 extension if her deal is rejected
On 26 February 2019, the Prime Minister gave a statement to the HoC in which she confirmed that a second meaningful vote on her Brexit deal would take place no later than 12 March 2019. If that vote failed, the Prime Minister said the government will table a motion to be voted on by 13 March 2019 at the latest asking the HoC if it supports a no-deal Brexit. If the HoC rejects a no-deal Brexit, the government will, on 14 March 2019, bring forward a motion on whether Parliament wants to seek a short, limited extension to the Article 50 period.
Earlier in the month, the HoC Library published a briefing paper assessing the issues surrounding a possible extension of the two-year Article 50 period. Among other things, the paper examines whether legislation would be required for the UK to request an extension, the scenarios in which a request for an extension might be made and the complications of the European Parliament elections, which are due to be held on 23 to 26 May 2019.
No-deal contingency planning
Guidance on no-deal Brexit planning continued to be published throughout February.
The UK Conformity Assessed (UKCA) marking is the new UK product marking that will, subject to parliamentary approval, be used for certain goods placed on the UK market if the UK leaves the EU without a deal. On 2 February 2019, the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy (BEIS) published guidance seeking to clarify how the UKCA marking regime will work in the event of a no-deal Brexit.
BEIS also published guidance on a no-deal Brexit for the:
In addition, BEIS released guidance on intellectual property, manufactured goods and using personal data after Brexit to help business both in the event of a deal, and a no-deal, Brexit.
On 14 February 2019, Companies House published guidance on changes to company registrations and forms, and the European Data Protection Board published an information note on data transfers under the GDPR in the event of a no-deal Brexit.
The FCA published its latest Primary Market Bulletin on 22 February 2019 setting out the new regulatory obligations that issuers and market makers will need to comply with in relation to short selling and market abuse if the UK leaves the EU without a deal.
Towards the end of February, the Department for International Trade published a guidance document setting out the status of the trade agreements from which the UK currently benefits as an EU member state, and which the government is transitioning, listing those that may not be in place by exit day in a no-deal scenario.
Brexit statutory instruments
Brexit statutory instruments (SIs) continued to be published in February. You can keep up to date with the increased volume of Brexit SIs by visiting our Brexit statutory instruments tracker.
