Consequences of Brexit in a nutshell

The United Kingdom will continue to comply with the rules and laws of the European Union until the end of this year. This will change on January 1, 2021, due to Brexit. This will have consequences for civil law and international law, and therefore also for notarial services. The European Commission has summarized the consequences of Brexit for these legal areas.

The European Commission's new notice (pdf) replaces previous Commission publications on these topics. For the notarial profession, the implications for legal proceedings, such as insolvency, are important. The Council of Notaries of Europe, the CNUE, will continue to closely monitor this issue in the coming period and will place it on the agenda within the various CNUE working groups.

Terms and Conditions
The UK and the EU reached an agreement on October 17, 2019, on the terms of the UK's departure from the EU. The EU and the UK are now continuing negotiations during the transition period on the final form of the new relationship. If agreements are reached, they will apply after the transition period. If agreements are not reached, a "no-deal Brexit" will automatically follow after the transition period. In this case, the UK will become a third country without bilateral agreements with the EU, including the Netherlands.

Consequences of notarial practice
It was already apparent that the consequences for notaries appear limited even in the event of a no-deal Brexit, partly because the UK has now ratified important Hague Conventions. Divorce cases may be more complicated, particularly regarding jurisdictional provisions.