Just over two months on from the conclusion of the EU-UK Trade and Co-operation Agreement between the EU and the UK, the partners at Matheson were pleased to host our most recent Brexit webinar, Beyond Brexit: Issues, Challenges and Solutions.
During the webinar, partner Mark O’Sullivan led a discussion which identified continuing ‘post-deal’ Brexit challenges for businesses, together with some of the possible solutions, relating to:
- indirect taxes: VAT and customs issues which can now arise and solutions for dealing with supply-chain disruption;
- litigation: jurisdiction clauses in agreements and recognition and enforcement of English law judgments;
- privacy / data protection: the recent adequacy determination by the EU Commission and the current position with transfers of data between the UK and the EU; and
- regulated financial institutions: awaiting certainty on equivalence - what steps should financial institutions take to ensure they can continue selling services and products to EU customers?
Speaking with Mark on these issues were partners Matthew Broadstock, Julie Murphy O’Connor, Anne-Marie Bohan and Louise Dobbyn.
Webinar Poll
In a live poll which formed part of the webinar, 80% of respondents said that they expected an increase in foreign investment to Ireland to access EU markets post Brexit. In relation to business disruption as a result of Brexit since 1 January 2021, 40% of respondents said that their business had been disrupted as a result of Brexit since 1 January; 44% said it had not been disrupted since 1 January. In response to the poll question as to the extent of business disruption, while 8% of those who polled indicated that the disruption was greater than expected, 44% stated that it was as expected, with 15% indicating that they had experienced less disruption to their business than expected.