The EU has already produced a series of notices on “Brexit preparedness”. It’s now the turn of the UK to publish notices. Taking the current course, the UK plans to leave the EU on 29 March 2019. What happens at that point remains a subject of much debate and discussion. Many hours of media time are dominated by speculation and those desperate to influence public opinion.
Brinkmanship is the apparent escalation of threats to achieve one’s aims. For brinkmanship to work, both sides escalate their threats. We never seem to be on the brink of anything good. Most “brinks” are on the edge of catastrophise, cataclysm, disasters, ruin, suffering or harm.
Pro-Brexit people often dismiss any such talk as, so called: “Project Fear”. That’s disingenuous because it’s an unscrupulous attempt to hide what brinkmanship is by definition. A threat, or outcome that no one sensible wants is ineffective unless it’s credible. It’s no good blaming anyone for this dreadful state of affairs. If the doctrine of – nothing is agreed until everything is agreed – continues, then this is what will happen.
Also, its foolish to think that this situation will only exist in the UK – EU relationship. It’s most likely to be encountered whenever the UK is negotiating with a larger Country or region. So, if Brexit happens we had better get used to it.
Naturally there’s the potential for errors or misjudgements. History is littered with brinkmanship gone wrong. It always better to have a life jacket than not have one but whether it will be any use or not is quite another matter.
Today, civil aviation is not on the list of how to prepare if the UK leaves the EU with no deal[1].
There are some inferences that can be taken from the notice on “Regulating medicines”. Basically, that’s the UK will continue to apply and accept the application of EU regulations even if there’s no deal. Ideally, the UK would like to remain part of the European Medicines Agency (EMA).
An attempt at humour, and the Bacon Lettuce and Tomato sandwich scenario after Brexit, fell flat. That said, most of the scenarios for no deal Brexit are Bl**dy Ludicrous Threats (BLTs). Better to stop this folly altogether and adopt a more practical, pragmatic and proportionate approach to EU Membership.
[1] https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/how-to-prepare-if-the-uk-leaves-the-eu-with-no-deal
John Vincent 