Brexikon: Here are the words you must be able to keep up with

The internal market

The EU's free trade area, which has existed since 1993. The internal market, where goods, services, people and capital should be able to move freely, consists of the EU and EEA countries: Norway, Iceland and Liechtenstein. If the UK continues to be a member of the EU's internal market, the country must continue to obey the European Court of Justice, offer EU citizens free movement, and pay fees to the EU.

Customs Union

The EU Customs Union was formed in 1968 and makes it easier for EU companies to trade. It harmonizes tariffs on goods from outside the EU and helps to protect people, animals and the environment in the EU.

In practice, the Customs Union means that the customs authorities in the 28 EU countries work as a single authority. They apply the same tariffs on goods imported to their own country from the rest of the world and do not charge any customs duties within the EU.

Article 50

The paragraph that states how a country leaves the EU. The paragraph is in the EU's Lisbon Treaty. It states, inter alia, that withdrawal can take place no earlier than exactly two years after a country has announced its intention to leave the EU - which happened in the United Kingdom's case on March 29, 2017. The withdrawal can also occur earlier, if the parties have agreed on the terms of withdrawal, or later, if both sides agree to extend the negotiation time.

withdrawal Agreement

Since the summer of 2017, the EU and the UK have negotiated an agreement that regulates the withdrawal itself. A kind of transitional agreement. It is about everything from what is going to happen to EU citizens who now live in the UK and, on the contrary, to how much the UK needs to pay the EU for all kinds of joint projects that have already been involved and set in motion, and more. Attempts to reach an agreement have been weighed down by the dispute over how to resolve border issues in Ireland - but at least one draft is now complete. The agreement needs to be approved by the UK Parliament and the European Parliament.

WTO rules

If the UK does not enter into a transitional agreement with the EU, it is likely that trade must instead take place in accordance with WTO regulations. It would probably have a negative impact on the UK economy.

If the World Trade Organization (WTO) rules are to apply, it means that the UK must have the same conditions for all trading partners with which it does not have trade agreements, according to the principle known as "most favored nation".

backstop

Dear child has many names - and in Swedish it has often been described as the emergency solution, the backup plan or the safety mechanism. The word is originally a baseball term and can refer to both the catcher himself (the one who catches the balls that the batsman does not hit) and the protection that is behind the batsman and the catcher so that non-targeted balls should hit the audience. In the context of Brexit, the word is used for the protection or guarantee that both Ireland and Northern Ireland want in order not to create a hard border on the island and thus risk the peace process. The parties have already agreed that a protection should exist - but not what it should look like.

New trade agreements

Once a withdrawal agreement is clear, the parties should begin to negotiate seriously about their future relationship, that is, how trade and cooperation should work between the EU and the UK after leaving. So far, both sides have only given different clues as to what one might think, even though the UK has pressed to get the negotiations started even before the exit agreement is finalized.

Some parts allow the parties to quickly agree, such as various forms of police cooperation. Other parts - such as the terms of a possible free trade agreement - may take several years to decide. However, the UK hopes that the future relationship will be investigated before a planned transition period ends on 31 December 2020.

Hard Brexit

Brexit can happen in many ways, and the different ways are often described on a scale from soft to hard. If the UK not only leaves the EU but also leaves the Customs Union and the Internal Market, it means Brexit at the tougher end of the scale.

Hard Brexit risks, among other things, creating delays and costly controls at the borders. And there may be obstacles to selling products in each other's markets.

Soft Brexit

A future relationship between the EU and the UK where the differences with today become relatively small. In a soft Brexit, the UK continues to be part of both the internal market and the customs union, is still under the European Court of Justice and offers free movement for EU citizens. And then they still pay fees to the EU. Instead, the most Brexit-sucking British want full freedom for the UK to choose rules and customs.

A soft Brexit risks creating a situation where the UK, like for example Norway, is forced to comply with EU rules that it is not possible to influence.

Checkers plan

Theresa May's middle ground between soft and hard Brexit was developed at a government meeting at Checkers - the British Prime Minister's residence outside London. This entails the creation of a common customs area to resolve customs issues and the UK to remain partially within the internal market. However, the plan is rejected by both the more hardy British Brexit phalanx and by the EU, which believes it is an attempt to "pick the raisin out of the cake" and divide the internal market in a way that is not accepted.

Contractless Brexit

No deal means that no exit agreement can be reached. A contractless Brexit risks wreaking havoc. At the same time, the EU and the UK are still expected to try to reach some bargains at the last moment in order to avoid, for example, air traffic standing. Other urgent issues are likely to be the conditions for EU citizens in the UK and vice versa. In a "no deal" there will be no transition period.

The border issue in Ireland

The Long Friday Agreement, the peace agreement signed in 1998 between the parties in Northern Ireland and the governments of the United Kingdom and Ireland, will continue to apply, regardless of whether there will be any exit agreement or no Brexit. However, many parts of the agreement are made more difficult, which is, after all, based on both Ireland and Northern Ireland being part of the EU and subject to the same EU rules on the free movement of goods, services and people. Keeping the border open is seen as a key part of confidence building. The disagreement over how it can work practically and legally is what is stopping the entire Brexit process right now.