A ‘no-deal’ Brexit could have very serious implications for the European Union–United Kingdom road transport industry, according to the International Road Transport Union (IRU).

The UK is scheduled to leave the EU on 30 March 2019, and given persisting uncertainty regarding the nature of this arrangement, the commercial road freight and passenger transport industry has been facing numerous challenges.

At the time of writing, the EU-UK preliminary Withdrawal Agreement has still not been approved by the UK House of Commons.

The EU has reportedly been strengthening its contingency planning efforts to prepare for a ‘no deal’ Brexit, in the hope that the UK will reciprocate these measures. The contingency plans comprise measures in a limited number of areas where the EU considers that a ‘no deal’ scenario would create major disruption in the EU27. These contingency measures would only apply until year-end 2019.

The IRU has been engaging with EU and UK stakeholders to defend the interests of the road transport industry during this planning process.

“The upcoming weeks will be decisive for the future of both road freight and passenger transport,” IRU said in a statement. “IRU will continue its active lobbying with key stakeholders to promote the interests of the road transport industry at every turn.”

November last year, Global Trailer considered what the future may hold for Britain in a post-Brexit world.