On February 11, 2019, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs hosted an information event for the Romanian business environment, in the context of the UK’s withdrawal from the European Union.
The objective of the event “How to prepare for Brexit?” mainly concerned the provision of a platform that would facilitate direct interaction between the companies that might be affected by the Brexit process and public institutions representatives.
Minister Delegate for European Affairs George Ciamba (see photo) introduced the key points in the negotiation process regarding the UK’s withdrawal from the EU and highlighted the fundamental role the politically-endorsed agreement played in ensuring legal certainty for citizens and the business environment. At the same time, given the latest developments, the minister delegate called on economic operators, private sector entities and professionals to step up their readiness efforts in front of any scenario and emphasised that everyone was responsible for developing their internal analyses and adopt the necessary measures.
The speakers in the event were Angela Cristea, head of the European Commission Representation in Romania, Virgil Goagă, president of the Chamber of Commerce and Industry of Romania as well as representatives of the Ministry for Business Environment, Commerce and Entrepreneurship, the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development and the General Directorate of Customs.
Discussions focused on the presentation of all the practical aspects to be considered by the business environment in the trade relation with the UK. Supposing the UK withdraws without an agreement, it will become a third country and there will be no possibility to have a transition period, an aspect that supposes that economic operators should immediately get familiar with third country trade procedures: customs issues, VAT, WTO tariffs, veterinary approvals etc.
The participants showed confident that the Brexit process would be completed as an orderly and predictable UK withdrawal from the European Union, which would lay the foundations for an unprecedented future partnership between the two parties, to the benefit of the citizens and the business environment.