Key Events This Week A path to progress? With one week to go before the crucial European Council summit on 17th October, there is still no clear agreement between the UK and EU on a way forward. On Thursday, UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson and Irish Taoiseach Leo Varadkar met in Cheshire for what many saw as a last-ditch attempt to break the impasse in the Brexit talks. While officials on both sides had played down the chances of any breakthrough, the...

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Key Events This Week Brexit: UK’s new proposals greeted with dismay by EU leaders On Wednesday UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson set out in a letter to European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker his plans to resolve the issue of the Irish backstop. While Juncker stated that there were some ‘positive advances’ in the UK’s new plan, the proposal, presented by UK Chief Brexit negotiator David Frost, would mean physical infrastructure close to the border. However, Michel Barnier later stated that it would...

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By John Farrell, Partner & Jevan Neilan, Senior Associate | Mason Hayes & Curran It has been more than two years since Theresa May formally announced the UK’s scheduled withdrawal from the EU. As the event looms ever closer, there is no certainty as to whether or not the UK’s departure from the EU will be accompanied by a successfully-agreed withdrawal agreement – or even, when it will happen. We take a look at some of the most pressing data protection...

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By Mark Callaghan, Associate | Littler Earlier this year, we wrote about the state of Brexit negotiations in the United Kingdom, and concluded that “with just over a month to go until Brexit takes effect” it was still “bewilderingly unclear” what form Brexit would take and how exactly employers should prepare. Six months on, and the position (if not the political landscape) is much the same, if not more bewildering! The revised Brexit deadline – that is, the day on which...

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By Huw Beverley-Smith, Robert K. Campbell, Scarlett Diamond, James Ellis-Rees, Hans-Christian Mehrens | Faegre Baker Daniels Background The exit of the United Kingdom from the European Union is heading towards another periodic climax with the exit date currently set for 31 October 2019. The U.K. Supreme Court today held that the Prime Minister’s decision to shut down, or in legal terms “prorogue,” Parliament during the critical stages of negotiations with the EU was unlawful. This alert provides a brief summary of an...

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By Claire D. Nilson & Christopher Jefferies | Faegre Baker Daniels The U.K. Government issued a Statement of Changes to the Immigration Rules on 9 September 2019, followed by an Explanatory Note Shortly thereafter. The changes will take effect over a staggered period of time from 1 October 2019 onward, with the main changes relevant to workers summarised below. EU Settlement Scheme (EUSS) Discretionary grounds have been added for refusing an application under the EUSS where the applicant has previously been...

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Key Events This Week The week that went from bad to worse for Boris They say a week is a long time in politics. Well this week must have felt like a lifetime for UK PM Boris Johnson. On Monday Johnson travelled to Luxembourg to meet with European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker. EU officials present at the meeting describe a “penny dropping moment” when Johnson realised that his plans for common “sanitary and phytosanitary” (SPS) rules on the island of Ireland...

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