On 29^th March 2017, the United Kingdom announced its intention to leave the European Union, coming into effect on 29^th March of this year.

Faced with the possibility of the departure of the United Kingdom from the European Union without the ratification of the Exit Agreement, approved by the European Council on 25^th November 2018, the European Union have advised the member states of the importance of adopting, at a national level, temporary solutions of rapid implementation, in order to minimize the impact of the departure of the United Kingdom on the citizens, companies and economic activities.

As a first reaction to these events, the Government established, by the Resolution of the Council of Ministers no. 52/2017 of 19^th April, the creation of Estrutura de Missão Portugal In, with the aim of identifying the preparation and contingency measures, in order to minimize the effects of United Kingdom’s departure from the European Union. 

As a result of that Resolution, on 17^th January 2019, the Council of Ministers approved a Contingency Plan for United Kingdom’s departure. This Plan consists in a group of measures aimed to mitigate the consequences of the United Kingdom becoming a third country.

Under the measures established in the Contingency Plan, two important Resolutions of the Council of Ministers were approved on 21^st February 2019:

Resolution of the Council of Ministers no. 47/2019, with the intention of mitigating the additional procedures necessary to control the entry and exit of national citizens from the United Kingdom, in national territory, has determined:

a)     The need to adapt the air border posts by modernizing the airport automatic border control equipment in order to ensure the most appropriate response to the consequent increase in the number of British citizens subject to border control; 

b)    The preparation, in areas with a higher incidence of British residents, of decentralized structures of the Serviço de Estrangeiros e Fronteiras (SEF -Border Agency), with biometric data collection stations, technical assistants and computer scientists;

c)    In the aftermath of the previous points, it authorizes SEF to carry out the following expenses and procedures:

• Up to the amount of €4.250.00,00 for the acquisition and implementation of automatic border control equipment and the associated software;
• Up to the amount of €800.000,00 for the acquisition and implementation of biometric data collection stations, necessary for the issuance of residency documents;
• External recruitment of 116 technical assistants;
• External recruitment of 8 computer specialists and computer technicians.

Resolution of the Council of Ministers no. 48/2019 , has determined the following measures:

a)     Creation of a Specific Support Line, with an overall amount of €50 million, for companies, preferably small and medium-sized companies, exposed to the United Kingdom market and as long as they prove the financing needs  to respond to the impact of the United Kingdom’s departure;

• To be developed by the Sociedade Portuguesa de Garantia Mútua in collaboration with the IAPMEI – Agência para a Competitividade e Inovação, I. P., (Agency for Competitiveness and Innovation);

b)    Creation of a financial incentive to provide support to the Portuguese companies in the elaboration of a diagnosis and in the definition of an action plan in order to respond to the repercussions of the United Kingdom’s departure;

c)    Provide specialized support and proximity to the small and medium-sized companies (PME) that have trade relations with the United Kingdom;

• To be developed by the IAPMEI in collaboration with the Direcção-Geral das Actividades Económicas (DGAE - Directorate General of Economic Activities);

d)    Implementation of a mechanism for the dissemination of personalized information on digital platforms, and of clarification sessions with national companies;

• To be implemented by the IAPMEI in collaboration with the DGAE;

e)    Training the Company Platforms in Portugal to provide support to the companies in the United Kingdom that wish to transfer their head offices or to open up a branch in Portugal;

• To be developed by the entity Portugal In, in collaboration with the Instituto dos Registos e Notariado, I.P. (Notary Institute), the IAPMEI, the DGAE, and the AICEP – Agência para o Investimento e Comércio Externo de Portugal, E.P.E. (Agency for External Commerce and Investment of Portugal); 

f)     Creation of an online service area in order to provide information to the British tourists and operators;

• To be created by the Instituto do Turismo de Portugal, I.P. (Tourism Broad);

g)     Development of a marketing campaign in the United Kingdom;

• To be developed by the Instituto do Turismo de Portugal, I.P (Tourism Broad).

Given the latest developments and constant changes that have been taking place in relation to the Exit Agreement, the possibility of the United Kingdom’s departure from the European Union without an agreement is fast becoming a reality.