“If you learn whether you have the right to continue operating as a company on Dec 28 and the only fallback plan is the ECMT system, which requires applications and allocations for permits, it will be too late,” Ms Laouadi said. “It’s not trivial and it’s not about being a ‘Remoaner’.”
While the number of permits the UK would receive under the ECMT scheme would be decided at the EU level, the DfT would allocate them.
In no-deal contingency plans made last year, the hauliers who made the most cross-Channel journeys were prioritised, followed by those with a high proportion of international business, which did not include between Britain and the Republic of Ireland.
If the same model were used, the FTA cautioned that businesses crossing the Irish Sea may need to reroute, disrupting supply chains, and that the DfT did not appear to hold data on the number of UK-registered hauliers travelling between Britain and the Republic of Ireland last year, so it was unclear how many firms could be affected.
Unless a solution is integrated into a trade deal, one fallback plan could be negotiating bilateral agreements with individual member states on permits.
