EU

As the dust settles from the European elections, the UK results have been thoroughly dissected. But what do the EU-wide results mean for the future, and how may they affect interactive entertainment here in the UK? We take a look with some help from our friends at ISFE.

The results

Defeat on the Brexit Deal and a slim victory for PM: Ukie Statement

Right from the start, we have called for clarity and certainty over business arrangements after we leave the EU. After the Government’s defeat on the Brexit deal and subsequent slim victory in the vote of confidence in Parliament this week the threat of a No-Deal still remains and should be categorically ruled out as an option.

Since the referendum Ukie have repeatedly and consistently stressed the importance of securing a data adequacy agreement to ensure the free flow of data between the EU and UK. Yesterday in the House of Commons the Minister for Digital made a troubling admission. In a European Committee meeting regarding the exchange of data with non-EU Countries Labour MP and shadow Culture Secretary Liam Byrne asked the Minister: 

Briefing on Brexit Whitepaper: the future relationship between the EU and the UK

Late last week the Government published its long-awaited white paper providing more detail on the processes and arrangement it will seek with the EU between now and the end of the implementation period in December 2020.

Government publishes guidance on plans for EU citizens

The Home Office has today released some guidance that it has sent to the European Commission as part of its negotiations which sets out how it intends to support EU citizens currently in the UK through a new streamlined registration system post-Brexit.

After 9 months of speculation following the June referendum, Article 50 has been triggered today, marking the start of two years of negotiations about what a post-EU Britain will look like.

During this time we have learnt a lot about what our industry is concerned about: access to global talent, data flows and uncertainty about future trading relationships have been all been raised as priority areas of concern, alongside the opportunities the coming negotiations present for the our creative tech sector in the UK.

Yesterday, Ukie launched our new report ‘State of Play: The UK games industry’s priorities for the EU negotiations’, the culmination of four months’ of consultation with more than 70 games businesses via a UK-wide industry tour from Belfast to Dorking to Manchester, and an online evidence gathering, hearing the industry’s key concerns and opportunities presented by Brexit.

This week, Prime Minister Theresa May delivered her much-anticipated Brexit speech, which, seven months after the referendum result, finally provided some clarity on what ‘Brexit means Brexit’ truly means.

In those months, Ukie has been consulting intensively with the sector through our working groups and via surveys, and feeding those results directly to government, and ensuring the concerns of interactive entertainment are heard in papers submitted to government. It is a critical time to make sure we are front and centre of a future proof Industrial Strategy.

Ukie has today published Video games and Brexit negotiations, a paper outlining key recommendations to decision makers in Parliament for how they should act during Brexit discussions to ensure that the UK games sector thrives outside the EU.