The United Kingdom is preparing “for all eventual hiccups”. This includes the possibility that there will be no trade agreement with Brussels at the end of the Brexit negotiations, Brexit Minister David Davis said on Sunday.
“We are preparing for all the possible problems. Not just my team, but the whole government”, Mr Davis told the BBC. London could invoke article 50 of the Lisbon Treaty on Tuesday. This would kick-start its divorce from the EU.
Earlier on Sunday, the Foreign Affairs Commission of the House of Commons, the UK Parliament’s lower Chamber, accused the government of not sufficiently preparing for the failure of its negotiations with Brussels.
“The possibility of no agreement being reached is high enough that the government needs to prepare for it. There is nothing to show that this scenario has been sufficiently taken into consideration”, the Commission warned. The Commission is made up of Conservative and Labour MPs who think this type of failure would have “disastrous” consequences for London and the EU.
Although she says she is optimistic about the outcome of the negotiations, Theresa May said she would prefer “no agreement” to a “bad agreement” with Brussels. She has promised to formally launch divorce proceedings with the EU before the 31st of March.
British MPs will examine the bill that would allow London to start the divorce procedure with the EU during a second reading on Monday. The text could be definitively adopted by Parliament’s two chambers on Monday evening, which means Brexit could begin on Tuesday.
(Source: Belga)
