CEO Today Global Awards

CEO Today Global Awards 2020 45 www.ceotodaymagazine.com GERMANY new regulations are designed to keep the Agreement compatible with any new regulations. The so-called backstop was designed to secure a good relationship to the EU market. Many open questions remain. Scotland has a history of a strong political will to become and remain a Member of the EU. If England goes a different way, the Scottish Government refers quickly to Scottish votes in the past. There the desire was expressed to leave the UK, become an independent State and remain Member of the EU. Prime Minister Boris Johnson explained that such a vote would require the permission of the Prime Minister. Permission has been denied. Wales has a reputation of being European- friendly. As early as 1959 Wales organized the first student exchange with my High School in Stuttgart. The sentiment remains. Future Relationship Agreement (FRA) Prime Minister Johnson declares that a FRA should be concluded by the end of 2020. The FRA negotiated by former Prime Minister Thatcher, however, required substantially more. The procedure ended with a rejection by the UK Parliament. It would be in the interest both of the UK and every EU nation to enter an Agreement until December 15th 2020. Such a time- frame is realistic with good will on all sides. As FRA cannot foresee all the problems in the future, it would be an acceptable compromise to negotiate only the pending vital points during 2020, then sign framework agreement with the reservation to add further clauses and specificity in the future. UK and the British Commonwealth of Nations The UK Government seems to be optimistic to enter new Agreements with the Commonwealth nations. This should not interfere with the relationship between the UK and the EU. Early arrangements translate into early certainty of law: this would be beneficial for all parties involved in this process. UK and US Both countries sound optimistic to enter a bilateral trade agreement. True, there has always been a special relationship between both countries. An important point is the fact that they share the same language. There is no legal obstacle on the horizon to enter an Agreement simultaneously with the EU. EU Citizens in the UK Quite a few EU citizens with a domicile in the UK tried to solve potential problems by applying for British citizenship, The long- term outlook is uncertain. UK Citizens in the EU About more than one million UK citizens have a domicile in a EU country. This situation will not change any time soon, but there again the outlook is uncertain. It should remain a neutral factor in the negotiations between the EU and the UK. Jurisdiction The good news is that both the UK and the EU have agreed on February 26th, 2020 to initiate negotiations on how to deal with each other in the future. Following this announcement a UK Delegation travelled to Brussels on March 2nd 2020 to start such negotiations. A major problem is the fact that there is still a strong difference of opinion which court would have jurisdiction on any future disagreements. The UK takes the view that after leaving the EU no EU Court would have jurisdiction over the UK any more. The EU takes the view that the EU Court has the competence to decide over any issue with a party leaving the EU Community. Conclusions Negotiations without a resulting judicial agreement would be unacceptable. Any Judgment of a Court, not being recognized by one party, would render any Agreement as worthless, probably as not enforceable as well. A comprehensive dispute resolution mechanism should be agreed and signed upfront. Currently this is the most important issue that must be tackled and solved as an absolute priority. All other important points should be resolved in an expeditious fashion as well. Literature: Notification invoking Art. 50 starting the withdrawal process 28-03-1917 Irland / Nordirland –Protokoll 14-11-2018 Withdrawal Agreement 25-11-2018 Brexit-Übergangsgesetz (Brexit Transition Act) 27-03-2019 Brexit –StGB - Steuerbegleitgesetz 29-03-2019 Directive (EU) 2019/1160 and Regulation (EU) 2019/1156 on the cross border distribution of collective investment undertakings Abkommen über den Austritt des Vereinigten Königreichs Großbritannien und Nordirland aus der EU ABl 2019 C 384 I, 1 12-11-2019 valid until Dec 31st, 2020 Herbst and Lovegrove: BREXIT / Financial Regulation 01 / 2020 Terhechte, Jörg, University of Glasgow, Strukturen und Probleme des Brexit- Abkommens Page 425 – 430 Neue Juristische Wochenschrift 02/2020 Kramme/Baldus/Schmidt-Kessel, Brexit und die juristischen Folgen § 4 Rn 6 2020. 2nd Edition