Brexit contingency action plans

Irish Government contingency plan

The Irish Government issued a communication called Preparing for the withdrawal of the United Kingdom from the European Union on 29 March 2019 (may also apply to new exit date on 31 December 2020): Contingency Action Plan on 19 December 2018. This contingency action plan provides the first public update on key issues in the context of a no deal Brexit. It builds on the detailed and comprehensive work already underway.

A further update of the Government’s Contingency Action Plan was published on the 31 January 2019. This plan includes some of the key sectoral developments since the Plan was originally published.

This will be part of an ongoing process of public updates to take place over the coming months.

European Commission contingency plan

The European Commission has provided Brexit preparedness information to assist individuals and businesses in their preparations for the United Kingdom (UK) leaving the European Union (EU).

The ratification of the Withdrawal Agreement continues to be the objective and priority of the Commission. However, irrespective of the outcome the UK’s choice to leave the EU will cause significant disruption.

Stakeholders, national and EU authorities, need to prepare for two possible outcomes as follows:

If the Withdrawal Agreement is ratified a transition period will apply. In this case EU law will cease to apply to and in the UK on 1 January 2021.
If the Withdrawal Agreement is not ratified there will be no transition period. EU law will cease to apply to and in the UK. This is referred to as the ‘no deal’ or ‘cliff-edge’ scenario.

You will find further information on the European Commission website in: