The Financial Markets Law Committee (FMLC) has published a letter that it has sent to Andrew Tyrie MP, chairman of the Treasury Select Committee.

In the letter the FMLC states that it was begun work to identify, analyse and address legal uncertainties relating to the UK’s withdrawal from the EU. The FMLC also states that while there exists third country measures under certain pieces of EU legislation, there remains uncertainty as to the conditions that the UK will have to satisfy in order to be able to secure a positive third country determination and the timescale within which such determinations might be made. Given the uncertainties the FMLC states that the UK and EU should agree transitional arrangements as early as possible.

The FMLC states that whilst the issue of transitional provisions is an urgent one, there should be careful analysis given the complexity of the issues. The FMLC suggests that one way in which to reconcile the exigencies of the political timetable with the intricacy of the issues at stake would be to adopt a staged approach, starting with areas where the mutual benefit for both the EU and the UK in preserving current arrangements is clearest or the issue is otherwise uncontroversial. The FMLC also states that assuming that transitional arrangements are found to be desirable from a policy perspective, it will be important to consider the status under international trade law of any such arrangements.

View FMLC letter on Brexit and transitional arrangements, 31 January 2017