The implementation of Brexit is going to cause some major changes for businesses dealing with our continental neighbours. We have broken the changes down int 8 Bite size blogs which we will publish over the next couple of weeks. This is the first:

Brexit – What is Brexit?

Brexit is the common name for the event of the UK leaving the European Union;.

On leaving the EU, the UK will become a separate trading state and will no longer be subject to EU rules and treaties etc.

What is the EU?

The European Union (EU) is an economic and political union of 28 countries. It operates an internal (or single) market which allows free movement of goods, capital, services and people between member states.

Which countries are members of the EU?

The following countries are members of the EU

Austria
Belgium
Bulgaria
Croatia
Republic of Cyprus
Czech Republic
Denmark
Estonia
Finland
France
Germany
Greece
Hungary
Ireland
Italy
Latvia
Lithuania
Luxembourg
Malta
Poland
Portugal
Romania
Slovakia
Slovenia
Spain
Sweden
UK (including Gibraltar)

The following countries are not members the EU but are members of The European Economic Area (EEA) which allows them to be part of the EU’s single market.

• Iceland
• Liechtenstein

Switzerland is neither an EU nor EEA member but is part of the single market

The following Crown Dependencies are not part of the EU

• The Isle of Man
• Guernsey
• Jersey

 

Who is subject to Brexit rule changes?

Anyone who has dealings with the EU or is under EU regulations is affected by Brexit E.g.

• Staff or products from the EU
• Staff or products travelling to or through the EU
• EU products, services or business in the supply chain
• Using EU status or regulations for contracts, licenses, labeling, quotas
• EU owners, equity, loans, property, websites