Hello and welcome to the Beyond Brexit podcast. I'm your host, Shalina Poffenberger.

So much about our world and our economy has changed since our last podcast, and for a while,

Brexit seemed to have been put on the back burner. But rest assured, Brexit carries on. At this

midpoint in the transition period, three themes have emerged

that dominate the challenge for business, the operational and regulatory processes of moving goods,

moving people, and moving data across our borders. Joining me remotely today are Caroline Turnbull

Hall, who will bring us up to speed on the trade negotiations, Andrea Owls, who will discuss the new immigration system, and Matthew Clark, who will help unpack the complexities of moving goods across our borders.

So let's start by setting the scene for trade negotiations. Caroline, where are we now?

Thank you, Shalina. And currently, we've got no real certainty at the moment,

other than that we know there won't be an extension to the transition period, which is going to

end on the 31st of December this year. And we also know that as things stand at the moment,

the UK hasn't walked away from the negotiations.

In relation to that point, you might remember back in February, the UK indicated that if sufficient

progress hadn't been made by the end of June, it would move its focus away from the negotiations

and start looking at domestic preparations

for the end of transition. Well, we're now past the end of June, the two sides have engaged

in reinvigorated negotiations, and so that particular cliff edge has passed. But actually,

other than that, there's little certainty from the negotiations.

We had the first phase, which started in March and ran until June, and that went as far as it

could without any political intervention. The Prime Minister and the leaders of the EU institutions

met in mid-June, and they decided that the negotiations

needed renewed impetus. And as a result of that, we started the second phase of negotiations

...