EU Shifts Tone on No-Deal Brexit, Saying It's Getting Likelier

(Bloomberg) --

The European Union shifted its tone on a potential no-deal Brexit, reassuring businesses and citizens across the bloc that it is ready for an "increasingly likely" crash-out departure.

Following Thursday’s bruising summit for Prime Minister Theresa May, where EU leaders delayed Brexit to give her more time to try to get her deal through Parliament, the European Commission on Monday put out a statement setting out its plans for the worst-case scenario.

While it remains the least-preferred option, the Commission said that governments were now prepared, and have recruited hundreds of customs specialists. An EU official told reporters that there’s a growing sense in the bloc that if it’s going to happen, it should happen quickly. The official reiterated there won’t be “mini-deals” to ease the shock, and that all measures were unilateral and aimed at self-protection.

By default, no-deal would happen at 11 p.m. U.K. time on April 12. But there’s a possibility EU leaders could extend that to May 22 to give both sides more time to prepare, a second EU official said. Beyond that would be difficult if the U.K. didn’t participate in EU elections the following day.

During Thursday’s summit, some leaders, particularly French President Emmanuel Macron, were noticeably becoming comfortable with the prospect of no deal, diplomats said.

France, Belgium and the Netherlands, the countries in Continental Europe most exposed to Brexit, have between them hired more than 2,000 more customs officials to prepare for no-deal, according to the first EU official.

The bloc is now ready for what it calls “basic” temporary contingency measures in the areas of fishing, financial services, aviation and road haulage. British citizens will be questioned upon traveling into the EU about their purpose and duration of their visit and whether they’ve got enough money to sustain them. A law giving U.K. nationals visa-free access to the EU has still to be endorsed.

Failure to get the Brexit deal through Parliament would leave the question of the Irish border unresolved. The EU is in intensive talks with Irish authorities over measures to keep as many controls as possible away from the land border, but couldn’t give a guarantee that a perfect solution would be found, the official said.

To contact the reporter on this story: Ian Wishart in Brussels at iwishart@bloomberg.net

To contact the editors responsible for this story: Ben Sills at bsills@bloomberg.net, Emma Ross-Thomas

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