20 Brexit problems that still haven’t been solved

Talks may yet break down. But even if, as is likely, some minimal agreement is reached on tariffs and quotas, the process of leaving the EU is only just getting underway

Most of the coverage of the UK-EU talks is surreal, with obvious areas of disagreement on state aid, fishing, and workers’ rights. But it’s worth remembering that these are political choices, not technical fixes. If the UK applied existing state aid rules as most generously interpreted, the government could spend £61bn pounds on new start-ups, or bailing out the steel industry, helping Red Wall seats – whatever it likes. That is socialism as not seen in half a century.  

On fishing, of course, every trawler owner wants the maximum exclusive catch. And it would be quite a political catch to land for Boris Johnson. But that would mean President Macron explaining to France's well-organised, highly politicised fishing communities – from Calais in Northern France to St Jean de Luz on the Atlantic Pyrenees coast - that he had sold them out. Go figure if that is what Macron will do 20 months out from his re-election campaign. The TUC would love workers’ rights guaranteed. But Tory MPs backed Brexit precisely to remove Social Chapter obligations.

So the trade tecchies and experts reporting in our media can only be so helpful. It is now about politics. With its threat to break international law and the constant rubbishing of Barnier, who for 40 years was a senior respected elected politician, the anti-EU lobby in London have not helped create the mood for a deal.

It may yet break down. But even if, as is likely, some minimal agreement is reached on tariffs and quotas, the process of leaving the EU is only just getting under way. 

Here are 20 aspects of Brexit that remain to be solved and can blow up into a Brexiternity of rows and problems in years ahead, even if a face-saving deal on trade and state subsidies is concluded by Christmas.

1. Michael Gove has announced 7,000 strong lorry queues from 1 January. Businesses need to employ more than 50,000 customs agents.

2. A special permit or passport is needed for lorries to enter Kent. The old Soviet Union had internal passports, but this is a first for Britain. Kent, and other port towns, become large lorry parks.

3. British car manufacturers face tariffs on components imported from out of the EU, which will make cars – all made by foreign-owned firms, notably Japanese auto firms – more expensive to sell in Europe. Unsurprisingly, the EU will not accept Japanese or Turkish components as British.

4. Multi-billion pound UK chemical industry says leaving the EU Reach regulatory system will make it difficult and far more expensive to produce chemical products, plastics, cosmetics, detergents etc. in the UK and it would be foolish to set up a parallel UK regulatory system for chemicals.

5. Latest reports say 7,500 financial services jobs have been relocated to EU capitals. JP Morgan transfers 200 key staff to Frankfurt to become Germany’s sixth-biggest bank. Financial services employers are the single biggest category of taxpayers to pay for public services.

6. Manufacturers cannot print catalogues for next spring as they do not know what prices they will pay for any imported elements of a British made food or product. Nor can they print labels as they do not know what information to put on the labels. They lose the EU quality mark.

7. The former head of MI6, John Sawyer and the former UK EU commissioner, Julian King, have publicly expressed concern about the threat to British security. The UK made 570,000 applications to the EU database on people recorded crossing frontiers. Thousands of requests have also been made to the EU PRUM database for DNA checks on criminals and terrorists. The UK was the biggest user of EU security databases.

8. The UK has so far refused to accept EU data transfer rules necessary to protect privacy. If Johnson and Dominic Cummings maintain this hard line then in theory all data exchanges with the UK that can be transferred to America will be illegal and blocked. There will be a big hit to holiday bookings as such bookings involve data transfers to and from EU.

9. Farms minister George Eustice told MPs there would be five times as many forms to fill on any food exports. Exports of beef and lamb, other animal food products (meat) will be hampered by a severe shortage of vets.

10.  Exporters are told to recruit 60,000 new bureaucrats to fill in hundreds of millions of new forms necessary to trade as a “third country” with the EU. This will be the same number as soldiers in the British Army soon. There is no figure on the extra number of customs agents the government will need to recruit.

11. The City of London faces losing 350,000 “EU passports” which allows firms and individuals across the financial services sector to do business with formalities in 27 EU nation states.

12.  While Switzerland voted on Sunday in a referendum to overturn a 2014 referendum banning the free movement of people, Priti Patel is putting endless obstacles in the way of care homes, the construction, fruit and vegetable picking, transport and hospitality sectors from recruiting European workers to offset the shortage of British workers.

13. It will be necessary to get an international driving licence to drive in Europe.

14. British pet owners will not be able to take their dogs and other pets to the continent without expensive and time consuming veterinary surgeon vaccinations, checks and documents.  

15. British people will lose their free European Health Insurance Card (EHIC) and travel for business or holidays will be more expensive as healthcare insurance has to be taken out.

16. Bank accounts of Brits living in France, Spain, Greece are being closed down as Lloyds, Barclays etc. say it is too expensive to set up separate entities in line with 27 national sets of rules.

17. The UK has signed a free trade agreement (FTA) with Japan, which has more stringent rules on state aid than proposed by the EU. Dominic Raab subsequently agreed on a FTA with Vietnam. Vietnam exports $6.02bn to the UK. The UK exports £300m to Vietnam. Smart thinkers, the Vietnamese.

18. Joe Biden, Nancy Pelosi, and Donald Trump’s Northern Ireland envoy have all confirmed there will be no FTA with the UK if the changes to the Northern Irish border signalled in the Internal Markets Act, which boasts about breaking international law, take effect.

19. Up to 2 million Brits who live in Europe for most or some of the year, do not know their future as they have to get new driving licences in languages they may not speak and can only stay for 90 days in a 180-day period in homes they own, as the UK becomes a third country subject to 27 sets of national rules and regulations on rights of foreigners to live, work and retire.

20. The ruling Conservative Party embraces Brexit, while Keir Starmer and Ed Davey say it cannot be challenged. Though a few brave résistants have raised the flag of partnership with Europe, the BBC and most of the media seem to have ignored them. But they won’t go away, won’t surrender. All honour to them.

Denis MacShane is the former minister of Europe and author of ‘Brexiternity: The Uncertain Fate of Britain’