In 2019, the European elections will take place between 23 and 26 May 2019 to elect the MEPs representing the Member States of the European Union, and the European Commission will change at the end of 2019.

Concerning the Brexit (departure of the United Kingdom from the European Union) the discussions at European level on a draft Withdrawal Agreement are still ongoing. Two main scenarios are still possible:

• the Withdrawal Agreement is ratified before 30 March 2019: in this case, European Union law would continue to apply in the United Kingdom until 31 December 2020 (transition period).
• or the Withdrawal Agreement is not ratified by 30 March 2019: this is the “no deal” scenario, implying that EU law will no longer apply in the UK from 30 March 2019.
  We invite you to follow further discussions on this topic by 30 March 2019.

According to information from the UK authorities, the main safety principles of European food law will be converted into UK law. However adaptations will be needed, particularly:

• The UK would no longer fall within the scope of the mutual recognition principle.
• Concerning the mandatory labelling of food, changes will be necessary for the address:

For pre-packed products sold in the UK, the label would need to include the name and a UK address of the responsible food business operator. The food business operator is the business under whose name the food is marketed in the UK or, if that operator is not established in the UK, the importer of the product into the UK. An EU address alone would no longer be valid for the UK market.

Similarly, a UK address alone would no longer be valid for the EU market and an address within the remaining EU member states will be required following EU exit.

A UK address together with an EU address on the label would mean that the label is valid for both the UK and EU markets.