Brexit – The Travlaw Series – January 2019
Here we are – less than three months to go, and “Brexit” is all done, dusted, decided and we just wait for the actual day. Right?
Hashtag Sigh. Yes, we are not really any closer to knowing what will happen come 29th March 2019 – generally, never mind with a focus on travel and leisure. Still, we know a little, and here is what we can be pretty sure of:
Visas?
- In our previous Brexit Series Articles in November and December 2018 we have already discussed the issue of visas being needed for travel in various directions. What is being discussed in the sense of short term measures, and the longer term use of the ETIAS system sounds like a visa by any other name. A barrier is a barrier, but in fairness perhaps on a little barrier, as things stand. Whether this will have an actual impact on travelers (be they leisure or business), remains to be seen.
Passports
- An increased focus on advising travelers to check, and re-check, passport status now seems sensible. The sheer volume of UK residents travelling outside the country will surely lead to more issues & problems, the effect of which can sometimes be blamed (often wrongly) on travel companies and airlines. In our view, you can’t really shout the message of checking & checking again via the .Gov.UK Passport pages enough! An often overlooked, but also important factor, is pet passports – this has the potential to be easily traversed, but also to cause real problems for the unaware!
Driving Licences
- Not everyone likes driving abroad. It is hard to see people doing it more, even though the process of obtaining an International Driving Permit is not that hard or expensive. However, again, for those selling car hire, or any kind of product where driving is possible, that is something to flag to customers.
Insurance
- Having the right insurance cover is always a factor for travelers, and alas horror stories of no/wrong insurance come up from time to time. Over a period where there is at least potential for delays, it is even more important to make sure customers have access to all the information they need;
Mobile Telephones
- The laws around mobile telephone charges seemed to take forever to come into effect, and now risk being ridden back by virtue of not being part of the EU. As regular travelers ourselves we will be keeping an eye on this, and everyone else should as well. We would welcome a cap on mobile data usage in line with the current 50 euros under EU law;
Suing and being Sued Post Brexit
- We see a lot of cross-border litigation here at Travlaw, and have been using the pan-European legislation for the benefit of our clients (such as the EOP & ESCP) for many years. In our view, a no deal Brexit will certainly not make anyone’s lives easier when it comes to this area of law. In fairness, a lot of the issues associated with, for instance, the service of judicial documents abroad could be resolved by simply allowing such service by e-mail and so on, but the position of travel companies in light of cross border disputes looks likely to be come more difficult one way or the other.
Keep tuned for more insights, as we know more!
For any questions on Brexit and the travel sectors, please contact Matt, Stephen, Nick or Sophie.
The Travlaw Team
This article was originally published on: 4 January 2019
