Brexit Update

I just thought it would be worth pulling together a quick update following Theresa May's speech yesterday.

She outlined the following 12 areas of focus.

To facilitate an opt-out of the principle of freedom of movement, and to avoid paying contributions to the EU budget, Britain will no longer be a member of the single market. 

Full membership of the customs union has been ruled out. The theory is that this will enable Britain to do free trade deals with other countries. She did howwever go on to muddy the waters somewhat by suggesting that we could be an "associate" member of the customs union.

Not surprisingly, the PM said that Brexit would enable Britain to control immigration from the EU. There were no specifics around what sort of immigration system there would be, or how Britain would be able to continue to "attract the brightest and the best" (her words).

Notwithstanding the last point, the PM did indicate that she wanted to guarantee the rights of the 3m EU citizens already living in Britain, as well as the rights of 1.2m British citizens living in other EU countries. 

There was a pledge to maintain freedom of movement across the Ireland / Northern Ireland border.

The PM said that the government would take back control of our laws and the jurisdiction of the European Court of Justice would end.

There was a pledge to continue to cooperate with the EU on crime, intelligence sharing, terrorism, law enforcement and foreign affairs.

The PM stressed the need for a "phased process of implementation" after the Article 50 process, rather than a cliff-edge. In particular, Britain will be seeking transitional deals on trade, immigration, customs systems, and financial services regulation.

On workers rights, the PM suggested that the government would not only protect the rights of workers set out in EU legislation, but build on them. 

The PM stated that she wanted Britain to continue collaboration with the EU on science, research and technology initiatives. 

The PM said that she wanted Brexit to strengthen the union, so will continue to hold joint ministerial committee meetings on EU negotiations.

Both Houses of Parliament will be given a vote on any final deal with the EU before it comes into force. In theory, a parliamentary veto of any deal would not stop Brexit, just the terms of any Brexit deal that had been laid before parliament. Most political commentators this morning have suggested in reality a veto would probably trigger a general election.

So where does this all leave us from an HR perspective?

In much the same position as before!

It is "business as usual" until:

1. Article 50 has been triggered.

2. The fine print of any deal becomes clearer...

3. ...and has been approved by both Houses of Parliament.

4. Any transitional arrangements have been implemented.

From an employment law perspective, the smart money remains on not making any significant changes to the basic structure of the current legal framework. Why?

- Much of the employment protection reflects accepted standards of good employee relations practices.

- Some EU legislation supplemented rights that were already enshrined in UK law.

- In some areas, UK law goes further than EU legislation.

- Some UK employment laws are domestic in origin.

- In maintaining strong trading relationships with Europe, the UK will need to demonstrate that it has minimum employment protections in place.

So at most we should expect to see changes to laws that will not be viewed as an erosion of any fundamental rights e.g. simplifying TUPE, agency worker regulations, redundancy consultation, holiday accrual and pay, etc.

Finally, as per my prior blog on this subject (see "Brexit Briefing"), during this time businesses should continue to maintain engagement and motivation during a prolonged period of uncertainty. 

And in the longer term, it remains to be seen whether Brexit will be followed by Grexit, Departugal, Italeave, Fruckoff, Czechout, Finish, Slovakout, Latervia, Byegium, and any other corny national terms for leaving the UE you can come up with :)