Brexit and Poland
The UK- Polish relationship has traditionally been strong, in peace and war, and it is interesting, therefore, to look at the economic statistics on trade and investment between the two countries.
According to a trade and investment factsheet published by the UK’s Department for Business and Trade (DBT) on 31st October 2025, total trade in goods and services ( exports plus imports) between the UK and Poland was £32.3 billion in the four quarters to the end of Q2 ( Quarter 2) 2025, an increase of 4.1% or £1.3 billion in current prices from the four quarters to the end of Q2 2024. Of this £32.3 billion:
- Total UK exports to Poland amounted to £11.6 billion in the four quarters to the end of Q2 2025 ( an increase of 6.7% or £726 million in current prices, compared to the four quarters to the end of Q2 2024); and
- Total UK imports from Poland amounted to £20.7 billion in the four quarters to the end of Q2 2025 ( an increase of 2.8% or £558 million in current prices, compared to the four quarters to the end of Q2 2024).
The DBT factsheet also showed that Poland was the UK’s 15th largest trading partner in the four quarters to the end of Q2 2025 , accounting for 1.7% of total UK trade.
In relation to investment, the factsheet stated that, at the end of 2023,the stock of FDI ( Foreign Direct Investment) from the UK in Poland was £7.1 billion , 5.1% or £382 million lower than at the end of 2022 and that at the end of 2023 Poland accounted for 0.4 % of the total UK outward FDI stock. The factsheet also stated that at the end of 2023, the stock of FDI from Poland in the UK was £460 million , 2% or £9 million higher than at the end of 2022, accounting for less than 0.1% of the total UK inward FDI stock.
There is clearly room for expansion in the UK- Poland trade and investment relationship.
Brexit and the Property ( Digital Assets etc ) Act 2025 (“ the Act”)
The admirably concise Property ( Digital Assets etc) Act 2025 (“the Act”) was passed on 2nd December 2025 and came into force on that date. It applies in England and Wales and Northern Ireland.
The Act has only two sections. Section 2 deals with common technical provisions ( “Extent, commencement and short title”) but Section 1 ( “Objects of personal property rights”) contains the substantial content and is worth setting out in full :-
“A thing ( including a thing that is digital or electronic in nature) is not prevented from being the object of personal property rights merely because it is neither –
- A thing in possession; nor
- A thing in action.”
The Act, inspired by the Law Commission of England and Wales, addresses the brave new world of digital and electronic assets ( including arguably, for example, certain types of cryptocurrencies , image rights and trade secrets) , which do not fit easily into the traditional common law categories of things in possession (generally, tangible things) or things in action ( generally, personal property that can only be claimed or enforced through a court action, such as debts or contract rights).
The wording of Section 1 seems intended to be open to the elements so as to embrace new types of asset arising now and in the future as technological and other developments in life unfold. Artificial Intelligence (AI) may be one of the beneficiaries of this new Act and the new residual category of assets that it recognises.
Labels can be important and the Act should hopefully remove uncertainty by clarifying hitherto innominate property rights , reducing disputes around what is an asset capable of legal protection , and improving the attractiveness of England and Wales and Northern Ireland as judicial jurisdictions for resolving disputes which may arise in relation to such assets.
An important legal marker in the post-Brexit era!
Brexit and the Vegetarian Sausage
On 7th December 2025, The Sunday Times published an article ( by columnists, Hugo Daniel and Caroline Wheeler) stating that the European Union was proposing to ban the use of the words, “sausage “ and “burger” if a food is plant – based. This would , for instance, affect the Linda McCartney brand of vegetarian sausages and has led to protests by the McCartney family, eight UK MPs ( including Jeremy Corbyn MP) and others.
According to the article, the European Parliament voted for the ban in October 2025 with 355 votes in favour and 247 against, after lobbying by the livestock industry, and the European Commission would now decide whether the ban becomes law. “If it does, the UK government believes it will apply to British businesses – despite Brexit.”
This is the type of issue on which Brexiteers campaigned in 2016 and evokes some painful memories!
Brexit an UK-EU Joint Statement in Erasmus + and Other Matters
On 17th December 2025, the UK and EU issued a Joint Statement to the effect that , following the UK-EU Summit in May 2025, the UK and the EU Commission had concluded their negotiations for the UK’s association to Erasmus+ in 2027 and had also concluded exploratory talks on the UK’s participation in the EU’s internal electricity market.
The Statement also confirmed the aim of the UK and the EU Commission by the time of the next UK-EU Summit in 2026 to conclude negotiations on the Youth Experience Scheme, on establishing a common Sanitary and Phytosanitary Area and on linking the UK and EU’s Emissions Trading Systems.
Interesting times!
Brexit and Exhibition on the Paintings of JMW Turner and John Constable at the Tate Britain Gallery in London
On 20th December 2025 and in the surrounding 2025/6 period, the Tate Britain Gallery hosted an iconic exhibition to mark the 250th anniversaries of the births of two of Britain’s finest artists, JMW Turner and John Constable.
The two artists were rivals of each other as well as grudging admirers and had painting styles which were both complementary and contrasting. Both artists focused on the power and the ( sometimes terrible ,sometimes lyrical) beauty of the natural environment as their subject- matter – contemporary art critics sometimes described Turner as focusing on the “fire” and Constable on the “water” when reflecting the natural environment in their paintings.
Whilst both painters were quintessentially English in their artistic preoccupations and painted scenes from England on their canvases , they were clearly also heavily influenced by continental Europe as their paintings show.
The Tate Britain, London, is one of the UK’s primary art galleries and is also a flagship for wider European culture.
Exhibitions like these , which attract visitors from everywhere to London, including certainly from continental Europe, can hopefully bridge some of the divides which Brexit divisions have created.”
Disclaimer: This article contains general commentary only and should not be relied upon as legal advice.
