Red Diesel - HMRC defence in EU

[maby]

Will the EU legal case against the UK not be abandoned now we are leaving the EU?
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A lot will depend on the terms of that leaving. There's a lot of pressure to make it a partial exit to maintain some degree of single-market access and that would likely imply continued compliance with rules like this one.

Even if we did a clean-break Brexit, they would be able to continue to penalise British boats caught with red diesel in EU ports.

 

[rafiki_]

On the Beeb this morning http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-42426542

Transition arrangements set to end at the end of 2020. if there are any Infraction Proceedings, will they be enacted by then? 3 years through the courts in Brussels, and what level of priority given everything else that is happening?

 

[maby]

On the Beeb this morning http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-42426542

Transition arrangements set to end at the end of 2020. if there are any Infraction Proceedings, will they be enacted by then? 3 years through the courts in Brussels, and what level of priority given everything else that is happening?

That is only defining the end date of transition, not the end state of the relationship. There's a lot of pressure to negotiate some degree of ongoing membership of the single market and customs union - if that were to be the outcome, then we would continue to be bound by a lot of the EU rules, such as those governing red diesel. Once we are outside the formal EU structures, it will be a lot easier to change the relationship - currently we are bound by a lot of formal procedures that we are obliged to respect. A free trade deal can be cancelled by either party more or less overnight.