The French government has also been making plans for the possibility of a "no deal" Brexit. As with the UK the prospect of long delays at ports of exit (notably Calais) have led to investing 50 million euros to build extra lorry parks and recruiting 600 more staff, customs officers, veterinary professionals and other civil servants needed to process the export and import documents.
A WTO exit could impose import duties of up to 40% on dairy products, lower tariffs on other goods.
It is estimated that France could lose 3 billion euros of exports in 2019, with cars, machinery, aeronautics, electronics and wine being particularly affected. Many items may require new recognition of standards (such as the British standard instead of the French or EU standard).
There are 300000 French people resident in the UK, 62% of whom reckon they will stay after Brexit. They will be illegal after 29th March unless they have applied for "settled status" particularly using the "mobile phone" system, provided they have an Android phone (so no iPhones). It is noted that UK expats in France will be in a similar position and will have one year to regularise their situation.
The problems of travel by air and Eurostar have been subject of debate as operators will not have the necessary permits to operate in France, nor will Air France be able to land in the UK; the EU has agreed to allow a one year extension to enable these companies to negotiate new licences, but there could still be some problems. Tourists may see higher charges for currency and telephone bills.
The Withdrawal Act covers many of these problems and the French government, as with the 26 other EU countries, prefers that deal to a "no deal".
