Brexit and trade issues

This article explores the post-Brexit EU-UK trade relations as they can be anticipated on the eve of the approaching exit day on 31 October 2019. A key piece of the Brexit negotiation concerned the issue of future trade relations between the UK and the EU after the withdrawal. The first part of the article discusses the framework of EU-UK future trade relationship as it emerges through the stand taken by the parties during the negotiations and in the final acts, the Withdrawal Agreement and the Political Declaration. In its second part, the article focuses on WTO constraints to the UK post-Brexit international trade with third countries, including those with which the EU currently has trade agreements in place, which will become inapplicable to the UK upon its exit from the EU. The analysis shows that taking back control over the trade policy will not be an easy task for the UK, leaving the EU with or without a deal.