Brexit | Civils Marg

📌 Background & Key Features

The reset: Since the UK Labour government took office (July 2024), both sides have pursued a limited "reset" — reducing trade barriers (June 2025 UK-EU-Spain-Gibraltar agreement on Gibraltar; a Sanitary and Phytosanitary/SPS agreement) without rejoining the single market, customs union, or accepting free movement.
India relevance: Post-Brexit, India negotiated the UK-India FTA bilaterally (signed 2025) rather than via the EU, while also concluding a separate India-EU FTA (Jan 2026) — illustrating how Brexit fragmented what was once a single EU-wide negotiation into two parallel tracks.

Referendum	23 June 2016 — UK votes to leave EU
Formal exit	31 January 2020; transition period ended 31 Dec 2020
2026 milestone	10th anniversary of the referendum — reviving the ‘reset’ debate

Reset that isn’t resetting: Analysts note that as of 2026, most reset gains remain limited (youth mobility scheme numbers, university fees, defence-industry participation in the EU’s SAFE programme all still under negotiation), with Reform UK’s rise complicating the EU’s willingness to offer further concessions.

Referendum: 23 June 2016 — UK votes to leave EU
Formal exit: 31 January 2020; transition period ended 31 Dec 2020
2026 milestone: 10th anniversary of the referendum — reviving the ‘reset’ debate

Year	Question	Marks
2018	Discuss the implications of Brexit for India’s trade and investment relationship with the UK (Mains and the European Union. Practice)	10