taken on January 29, 2020, British members of the European
Parliament from the Group of the Progressive Alliance of Socialists
and Democrats pose for a group picture wearing scarves depicting
the European Union and the Union Jack flags at The Europa Building
in Brussels. – EU chief Ursula von der Leyen declared October 1,
2020, that Brussels is taking legal action over the British
government’s attempt to overturn parts of the Brexit withdrawal
agreement. (Photo by JOHN THYS / AFP)
Britain has not yet installed all the complex IT systems
and port infrastructure needed to ensure Brexit runs smoothly, a
group of British MPs warned in a report released
Saturday.
The Committee on the Future Relationship with the European
Union, a cross-party group of lawmakers, released the report after
meeting Thursday online.
The group said they were “concerned about the overall state of
readiness” and warned that “some decisions on infrastructure have
been taken too late”.
The “early months… are likely to be difficult”, the report said,
echoing comments by Prime Minister Boris Johnson, who conceded the
switch to new rules “might be difficult at first”.
“With just seven working days until the end of the transition
period, significant concerns remain,” said Hilary Benn, a prominent
Labour MP who chairs the committee.
Britain left the EU in January but is in a standstill transition
period until December 31, during which the bloc’s rules mostly
still apply while trade talks are held.
Deal or no deal, change is coming on January 1, as Britain will
leave the EU single market and customs union.
But Benn said the government “still cannot provide business,
traders and citizens with certainty about what will happen in all
the areas affected by the negotiations”.
The report criticised delayed delivery of IT systems in places
such as ports, making it hard for businesses and traders to learn
to use new government systems and update their in-house technology
by the year-end deadline.
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Ports also needed to build major new infrastructure for customs
and border controls but in November were still waiting to hear if
their bids to a £200 million government fund were successful, the
report quoted port officials as saying.
– ‘Patchy at best’ –
Some major ports such as Dover in southern England and Holyhead
in Wales do not have the space on site for such facilities and will
need to build elsewhere, the report said.
The report also said there could be problems with getting enough
vets and other professionals to check goods and process customs
declarations.
It warned that the government needed to have “robust contingency
plans to deal with whatever happens” after January 1.
The MPs urged the EU to delay introducing import procedures on
British goods, after the UK did the same for EU goods.
The government’s campaigns to encourage businesses to get
abreast of the new rules is “patchy at best”, the report said.
The UK will also lose access to key agreements such as the
European Arrest Warrant, which allows a criminal suspected by one
state to be arrested in any other, while a new bilateral agreement
with the EU is “unlikely” to be ready in time, the report said.
The people in Northern Ireland, which will have the EU’s only
land border with Britain from next year, “deserved to know far
sooner the terms of trade within their own country”.
London and Brussels have agreed on a complicated system for
trade, which will see the British province bound by most EU rules
because of the need to keep the oborder with EU member Ireland
open.
MPs praised it as a “pragmatic solution”, given fears that the
return of hard border infrastructure could reignite sectarian
conflict.
-AFP