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For the U.K. and Ireland, Brexit and COVID-19 Are a Perfect Storm

For the U.K. and Ireland, Brexit and COVID-19 Are a Perfect Storm
Motorists pass an anti-Brexit poster close to the Irish border, near the town of Newry, Northern Ireland, Feb. 1, 2020 (AP photo by Peter Morrison).

DUBLIN—As the world braces for a prolonged economic downturn due to the coronavirus pandemic, the United Kingdom and Ireland may have to face this crisis alongside another, partly self-inflicted one: a no-deal Brexit.

The U.K. officially left the European Union in January and is currently in a transition period that is scheduled to end on Dec. 31. During that time, EU rules remain in effect, and London and Brussels are supposed to hammer out the details of their future trading relationship before the end of the year. Yet so far, there has been little progress.

“We should be very concerned,” says Jannicke Wachowiak, an analyst at the European Policy Center in London. “There’s a high chance now that we’ll be facing a cliff edge at the end of the year.”

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