Brexit – effects for British citizens in Slovenia, EU

Brexit has been in the news frequently throughout the world in the past years. Brexit is an abbreviation of the process of the United Kingdom leaving the European Union. It should occur on 31st October. But this month there have been new developments in that regard. Firstly, UK and the EU have finally reached a deal in the exiting procedures.

Even though the British parliament agreed with the deal, they rejected the possibility to enforce it in just 3 days. The possibility was to postpone Brexit until 31st January, for which the European parliament still has to make a decision to accept or decline. But the British prime minister plans on early elections if the EU parliament postpones Brexit until next year. The future of the UK is still unclear, but we wanted to present the possibilities that UK citizens will have in regards to life, work and business in Slovenia, should the Brexit deal not go through.

Data d.o.o. has been supporting local and foreign entrepreneurs in their business in Europe for over 28 years. We provide several business services in one place. Data d.o.o. provides comprehensive support with company registration, tax consultation and also legal support. Additionally, we offer accounting services as well. Bisnode has also awarded us with Platinum Creditworthiness Certificate of Excellence AAA for our consistent good results in business support.

Brexit – how does the situation look like at this time?

Negotiations regarding the future regulation of relations can start after the UK leaves EU, regardless on the scenario for departure. Should both parties agree on a deal, it comes into force after Britain leaving the EU, if the British parliament approves it. In this case, a transitional period will take place and will last for 21 months. But in case that EU and UK cannot reach a deal, there will be no transitional period. This means that with 31st October 2019, the EU regulations would stop being valid for Britain.

The current situation is still unclear due to the fact that a deal was made but the British parliament did not agree to enforce it so quickly and it looks like Brexit might be postponed until 31st January. In that case, Britain can expect early elections. This will make the Brexit outcome quite unclear, especially regarding when the new policies will take place.

How is Slovenia preparing for the exit of United Kingdom from the EU without a deal?

The European commission is in charge of regulating the areas relating to internal markets of the EU countries. Those areas include trading, customs, transportation and environmental politics. Ministries in Slovenia have assessed that there is no need for urgent adjustments to the legislation because of Brexit. But in case there will be a »no-deal« Brexit, the government will have to regulate the legal bases for UK nationals with residence permits in Slovenia.

UK citizens in Slovenia after Brexit

If there will be no deal regarding the UK leaving the European Union, the Slovenian government foresees treating UK citizens without valid residence permits or submitted application for residence permit at non-EU citizens. Meaning that they can only establish LTD companies in Slovenia and for them specific conditions for business immigration will apply. Those who already have residence permits or have at least submitted their application before Brexit takes place, will be treated under the same conditions that applied for them at the time of submitting the application.

But as the future of Brexit is still quite unknown, at Data d.o.o. we will be monitoring the developments closely and keep you informed regarding the policies that will take place in the end.

For more information about company registration in Slovenia, you can write to us on our email [email protected]. You can also contact us over the phone 00386 1 6006 270 or 00386 40 530 718 (Viber, WhatsApp). You can also follow us on Facebook.