As of Q1 2021, vaccines have started to reduce hospitalisations in numerous countries, but global variations in vaccine manufacturing, distribution, procurement and adoption ensure that 2021 will be a year of patchwork ‘new normals’ worldwide. New, more infectious and potentially more robust variants may render COVID-19 endemic, further fragmenting governments’ response. Despite the prominence of the pandemic, other issues (such as Brexit and data protection) have also been notable within searches.

Now that the UK has left the EU and the transition period ended on 31 December 2020, this briefing considers the key points of the legal and regulatory landscape from the perspective of Ireland.

Deal or no-deal?

In effect, there is both. The December 2020 EU-UK Trade and Cooperation Agreement¹ (the “TCA”) includes a ‘deal’ so far as concerns EU-UK trade in many types of good. However, the TCA makes little provision for trade in services and so, broadly, it is ‘no-deal’ as regards most types of service.

The Australian government has taken swift action to enact new legislation that significantly changes the insolvency laws relevant to all business as a result of the ongoing developments related to COVID-

Although the Trade and Cooperation Agreement (TCA) arrived in time to prevent a wholesale “no deal Brexit,” issues of cross-border cooperation and recognition in relation to insolvency and restructuring proceedings were not included in the agreement.

The UK left the European Union (EU) on 31 January 2020 and the transition period in which EU rules continued to apply ended on 31 December 2020. As such, for insolvency proceedings opened in England after 31 December 2020, they will no longer benefit from automatic recognition in an EU member state.

Therefore, insolvency practitioners (IP) of a company with multijurisdictional operations or assets will be required to make an application in the relevant EU jurisdiction to have proceedings recognised in that jurisdiction.

Prior to 1^st January, 2021, the cross-border recognition and enforcement of insolvency proceedings and judgements between the European Union ("EU") and the United Kingdom ("UK") was largely consolidated within the framework of the European Insolvency (Recast) Regulation (the "EIR") which generally attributed automatic recognition to such proceedings and/or judgements. Following the end of the Brexit transitional period on the 31^st December 2020, the EIR no longer applies to the UK.

Over the last 12 months, global markets have been amazingly resilient, indeed even buoyant, aided in large part by governments around Europe and the world providing seemingly unlimited funding and extensive financial stabilisation measures, such as quantitative easing.

This, coupled with protective legislation for companies to prevent insolvency filings and to ensure continued trading – for example, moratoriums, relaxations on insolvency filing obligations and restrictions on creditor actions – has given businesses significant breathing space and prevented widespread failures.

The Australian government has taken swift action to enact new legislation that significantly changes the insolvency laws relevant to all business as a result of the ongoing developments related to COVID-19.

The Australian government has taken swift action to enact new legislation that significantly changes the insolvency laws relevant to all business as a result of the ongoing developments related to COVID-19

The United Kingdom formally left the European Union (EU) at 11pm on the 31 January 2020 (Exit Day) and entered into a period of transition. This transition period largely maintained the “status quo” with regards to restructuring and insolvency law and practice, primarily due to the UK having secured ratification of the withdrawal agreement. This made the arrangements between the UK and the EU fully reciprocal post-Exit Day and avoided the no-deal “cliff edge” Brexit, which many had initially feared.