1. Brexit timeline
Brexit originated from the Brexit Referendum on June 23, 2016 and triggered Article 50 on March 29, 2017, which stipulates that the UK shall complete Brexit within 2 years. During this period, there were three postponements, and finally the time for Brexit was set to January 31, 2020. Moreover, the UK obtained a transition period ending December 31, 2020 after Brexit.
2. What is special about Brexit
In the process of Brexit, one problem is how to deal with the cross-border trade between Northern Ireland and Ireland (member states of the EU). A plan has been drawn up to treat Northern Ireland and Great Britain (England, Wales, and Scotland) differently from a regulatory perspective to prevent the side effects of the “hard border” between Ireland and Northern Ireland.
Two concepts need to be explained here:
UNITED KINGDOM covers England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland;
GREAT BRITAIN covers England, Scotland and Wales.
