it might feel like a long time ago this
is the dawn of a new era but yes the UK
left the EU in January of 2020 the
united kingdom's membership in the
European Union is over it's been out of
the headlines for a few months now but
brexit is back on the political menu so
here's a quick refresher of what's done
and what's still to do the divorce deal
known as the withdrawal agreement dealt
with the rights of EU citizens living
here how much money the UK owed the EU
and the transition period which we're
currently in during which you'll have
noticed nothing much has changed but
what we need to know is to see a bit of
umph in the negotiations so what's on
the table now is how the UK and the EU
will trade with each other in future
both sides want a free trade agreement
meaning there'd be no charges or tariffs
on goods bought and sold between the UK
and the EU and no limits or quotas on
the amount of stuff crossing the border
working out the details of that is where
things get tricky you cannot have the
best of both worlds the UK says the EU
is asking for too much and that now that
it's left the EU it shouldn't have to
follow EU rules in order to trade we
will be in control but that is important
to the EU because they say it ensures
fair competition between companies on
both sides they call that the level
playing field it is looking to pick and
choose the most attractive element of
the single market without the
obligations phishing is another sticking
point the UK wants to sell fish caught
by British boats into Europe but in
return the EU wants its vessels to have
access to UK waters the UK continues to
backtrack deadlines and deadlock might
feel familiar but the pressure is
definitely back on I think the people
whose country that's heartily sick of
going on about bread chip kovat
restrictions permitting this summer's
negotiating timetable is tight time is
short and what happens if a deal is done
but the rules are broken that EU says
its highest court the European Court of
Justice must have a say but the UK is
clear it can
no role here but we can't have the
involvement of the European Court of
Justice in this country so there's a lot
to overcome
negotiations are happening remotely
which doesn't exactly help and while
both sides say they do want a deal
they're also preparing for a future
without one the window of opportunity is
rapidly closing the deadline is December
the 31st and both sides will have to
budge somewhere somehow if a deal is to
be done