Scots travelling to the EU will be will warned about the risks of new travel rules, higher mobile phone roaming charges and border chaos for traders when Brexit is completed, as a new information campaign is launched.
Ministers have chosen the slogan “The UK’s new start: let’s get going” for the adverts that will run on television, radio and the internet, as well as in text messages.
A strapline reading “Check, Change, Go” will direct people and businesses to a website for detailed advice on steps to take – with full departure from the EU looming on 31 December.
The departure from the EU will create a massive bureaucratic nightmare for businesses trading with Europe but for individual UK travellers leaving the EU will also be a headache.
Among the changes:
* No more reciprocal healthcare arrangements under the EHIC card scheme.
This means anyone travelling from Britain to EU countries will need comprehensive travel insurance.
* No more statutory protection against mobile roaming charges. From 31 December providers are only required to send users a text when charges abroad exceed £45.
* Passports must have six months validity to travel to the EU. It is estimated that around 5 million UK passports are set to expire in less than a year. Holidaymakers should act now if they want to go abroad in the new year. If you apply for a new passport you will get a blue UK passport (printed in Poland by a French company).
* Drivers may may also need an international driving permit, depending on which country they are visiting.
* People driving in their own car may also need an insurance “green card” to prove that they have adequate cover.
* Preparations to take a pet from the UK to the EU will have to start up to four months in advance because the pet will need a rabies-free blood test at least 3 months old with the test taken at least 30 days after a rabies vaccination, if needed.
* Importers and exporters will need to comply with a new 90-page rulebook to qualify for an Economic Operators Registration and Identification (EORI) number to take advantage of any new non-border customs clearance arrangements.
All this and more is being announced in the government’s “let’s get going” preparations for departing the EU on December 31st.
The initiative, “The UK’s new start: let’s get going” is set to prepare UK citizens for visiting the EU from Jan 1 2021, when the UK quits the single market and customs union.
Cabinet Office minister Michael Gove will present the plans to parliament today.
He said: “While we have already made great progress in getting ready for this moment, there are actions that businesses and citizens must take now to ensure we are ready to hit the ground running as a fully independent United Kingdom.”
The government is spending around £750 million on new customs clearance infrastructure, for Dover, Portsmouth and Holyhead, including an undisclosed sum for 11 hectares outside Ashford in Kent to process lorries coming from Calais.
Customs checks for goods coming into the UK from the EU will be introduced over a period of months next year to allow businesses to adjust.
Bu the EU has said it will not stagger the introduction of new customs rules. So unless there is an extension to trade talks, which the UK side has ruled out, there are less than six months to be ready for Brexit.
