24th January 2019 - Businesses in Britain and the European Union need to prepare for the possibility the U.K. will leave the bloc in March without an exit deal, senior British and EU officials warned yesterday, as a growing number of U.K. firms braced for disruption by stockpiling goods or shifting operations overseas.
Last week British lawmakers threw out Prime Minister Theresa May’s EU divorce deal, and attempts to find a replacement are gridlocked. ”No deal is a possibility,” said U.K. International Trade Secretary Liam Fox.
German Economy Minister Peter Altmaier said any such request “would certainly be considered seriously” by the bloc. ”‘No-deal’ Brexit must be avoided — this is the priority,” he said in Davos.
“You cannot just say, ‘Well it’s the 28th of March. We’re not yet there. Give us some time.’ You must clarify some options,” Moscovici said in Davos.
May said extending the deadline “does not solve the issue,” and the only way to ensure Britain did not leave the EU without an agreement was for Parliament to pass her deal.
“There will always be a point of decision … no deal, a deal or no Brexit,” she said in the House of Commons. Britain’s pro-Brexit lawmakers accuse those seeking a delay of trying to overturn voters’ 2016 decision to leave the EU.
“They are going to do everything that they can in that remaining time not to delay Brexit, not to get a deal, but to keep us bound to the European Union,” said Conservative legislator Jacob Rees-Mogg, a leading Brexiteer.
With Brexit just two months away, companies are acting to cushion themselves against disruption. Ferry operator P&O said it would re-register its U.K. fleet under the flag of Cyprus so it could continue to use EU tax arrangements after Brexit.