Brexit – The EU is preparing its "No Deal" emergency plan

Strasbourg (APA) – The EU is preparing more and more for a "no agreement" scenario with Britain. Negotiations on Brexit are expected to have reached zero, though European Commission Vice President Frans Timmermans officially spoke Monday of progress. At the same time, however, he presented a first emergency plan for a Brexit without agreement.

It contains two concrete legislative proposals on visas and energy efficiency. The main aim was to facilitate travel on both sides after the departure of the British on 29 March 2019. With regard to the energy efficiency objectives, the Brussels authorities stressed that the overall objective of 203, 32.5% remains the same even without the British. However, this means that primary energy consumption will decrease compared to 1.273 million tonnes of oil equivalent, previously estimated, down to Britain at 1,128 million tonnes.

Third point of the emergency plan, the Commission presented a note on border traffic between the island and the EU. It concerns the traffic of individuals as well as businesses. It contains information on border and customs controls, driving licenses and pbadports. However, such emergency plans can not cover all future disruptions, they say.

The Commission has identified the priority areas in which such urgent measures are needed. It also deals with health rules, data protection and climate policy.

The Brexit negotiations have continued and progress has been made, Commission Vice-President Timmermans told the European Parliament in Strasbourg. But the preparation of a No Deal emergency plan is necessary.

The Commission is concerned that both parties will be subject to a visa-free visa regime to make life easier for British citizens in the European Union and European citizens in the United Kingdom. Of course, it depends on how Britain sees things.

In any case, there will be a new emergency plan, which will be implemented if "Britain would probably flee without an agreement". "The exit from the United Kingdom will result in fractions, whether or not a contract is concluded, and we all have an obligation to do as little damage as possible," said Timmermans.

Exit negotiations with Britain have been slow for months due to the unresolved problem of the future border between the British province of Northern Ireland and Ireland.