This presentation, entitled “Brexit: Where Are We Now?,” outlines the road to Brexit and focuses on the key features of the EU-UK negotiations as of March 2018, i.e. halfway to the scheduled date for Brexit in March 2019.

The authors, who are based in WilmerHale’s Brussels office, outline the first phase of negotiations on citizens’ rights, financial settlement and Irish border issues. Then, they turn to the second phase of negotiations, which are focused on:

• the need to finalise a Withdrawal Agreement by October 2018;
• the agreement on a Transitional Period after March 2019 until December 2020 (achieved in March 2018); and
• the major issue of defining the principles of a bespoke trade deal, with core issues such as how to deal with goods and services, and how to find solutions to resolve the issue of the Irish border, carried forward from the first phase.

The presentation then switches to a review of why all this matters, considering—with the help of other members of the WilmerHale Brexit Group—the potential impact on financial services, pharma and medical devices, energy, the automotive industry and telecoms commerce between the EU and the UK.

Brexit issues change every day. This program will give you an essential basis to what is going on at halfway and what to look for in the coming months, as the EU and UK seek to reach agreement by October 2018 and submit the results to their respective Parliaments.