Islands need speed to keep up with Brexit

However, with four of the UK/EU negotiation rounds complete and six months already gone, the volume of work still to be addressed is getting scary.

And now the EU’s chief negotiator has warned that, although some progress has at last been made, months of stalemate could follow unless the UK settles its bill.

Such brinkmanship will push not only the UK to the edge but has very real consequences for Guernsey and all the Crown Dependencies.

The third Brexit Billet, published last week, has one central message: once the starter pistol fires we need to be ready to sprint or risk getting left far behind.

If we cannot keep up, the legal advice is that it could be to the island’s ‘substantive economic detriment’. The Bailiwick therefore needs to be able to shadow the UK as it makes agreements and arrangements (including transition deals) at breakneck pace, each of which could be crucial.

The strain on government resources should not be underestimated and Policy & Resources is right to push for a streamlined system so that the island’s legal changes can proceed at pace.

Failure to do so could put at risk fundamental trading agreements such as the island’s membership via the UK of the World Trade Organisation.

The margin for error is slim. HM Procureur estimates that even with a fair wind it could take a year for the necessary projets de loi to pass through the three Bailiwick governments. There are only 18 months to departure day.

Such speed of change is unnerving, not just because of the risk of falling behind but the magnitude of what the island may have to sign up to with no time for consideration.

The island wants, for example, to maintain very similar immigration rules to the UK, so that the Common Travel Area can continue.

However, once the UK agrees on its new system it will need to be modified for island circumstances before being extended.

These are not decisions anyone wants to rush.

Yet we may have little choice.