Brexit and Moldova
Moldova is a small country In South-East Europe , sandwiched between Romania and Ukraine and with a somewhat rebellious pro-Russian region known as Transnistria.
Moldova ( including Transnistria) went to the polls on Sunday 28th September 2025 and voted to re-elect the pro-EU party , President Sandu’s Party of Action and Solidarity (PAS) , over the pro-Russian Patriotic Electoral Bloc.
At the moment, therefore, the majority in Moldova seems determined to plot a course designed to draw it closer to democratic Europe ( and the EU in particular) and away from Russia and it is worth, therefore, reviewing recent trade and investment statistics between the UK and Moldova.
On 24 December 2020, the UK and Moldova entered into a Strategic Partnership , Trade and Cooperation Agreement effectively rolling over the previous trade arrangements that applied between them under the Moldova – EU Association Agreement, when the UK was a member of the EU.
According to a UK Department for Business & Trade ( DBT) factsheet published on 19th September 2025, total trade in goods and services ( exports plus imports) between the UK and Moldova was £1.3 billion in the four quarters to the end of Q1 ( Quarter 1 ) 2025, an increase of 1.2% or £15 million in current prices from the four quarters to the end of Q1 2024. Of this £1.3 billion:
- Total UK exports to Moldova amounted to £94 million in the four quarters to the end of Q1 2025 ( an increase of 34.3% or £24 million in current prices, compared to the four quarters to the end of Q1 2024);and
- Total UK imports from Moldova amounted to £1.2 billion in the four quarters to the end of Q1 2025 ( a decrease of 0.8% or £9 million in current prices, compared to the four quarters to the end of Q1 2024).
The DBT factsheet showed that Moldova was the UK’s 82nd largest trading partner in the four quarters to the end of Q1 2025 accounting for 0.1% of total UK trade.
The factsheet also revealed that, at the end of 2023, the stock of FDI from the UK in Moldova was £46 million, a change of less than £1 million compared to 2022 and, in the same period, Moldova accounted for less than 0.1% of the total UK outward FDI stock.
According to the factsheet, at the end of 2023, the stock of FDI from Moldova in the UK was £3 million , 200% or £2 million higher than at the end of 2022 and, in the same period, Moldova accounted for less than 0.1% of the total UK inward FDI stock.
There seems a long way to go to develop the full potential of the UK-Moldova trade and investment relationship but there are some hopeful signs.
Brexit and the EU’s New Border System
As reported on the BBC News App on 12th October 2025, as from that day the EU’s “much -delayed new digital border system, the Entry/Exit System or EES”, would be gradually introduced.
The EES covers 29 European countries , including all the EU countries ( except Cyprus and Ireland ) plus all the EFTA countries ( Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway and Switzerland) comprising between them the Schengen area countries, which member state citizens can normally travel across without border controls.
Reportedly, under the new system, fingerprints and a photo have to be registered, and the EES would eventually replace the current system of passports being stamped by a border officer. ( Children under 12 would not have to provide fingerprints.)
The objective of Schengen area countries is for the EES to be fully in place by 10th April 2026.
It should also be noted that the EU ( except for Ireland) plus the four other Schengen countries, will reportedly be introducing a new visa waiver system linked to passports called the European Travel Information and Authorisation System (ETIAS),which would build on the EES but is not due to start before the last quarter of 2026 ( with the actual start date yet to be announced as at 12th October 2025).
Changing times!
Brexit and Asterix
On 21st October 2025, The Times published a short news item from France in the following terms: “ Asterix’s adventures across the Channel will be celebrated in a new section of “Le Parc Asterix”, the theme park near Paris . Due to open in 2028 and inspired by the 1966 comic “Asterix in Britain”, “Londinium” will feature models of Big Ben and Piccadilly Circus as well as references to jelly, Brexit, the royals and “l’humour britannique, the park said.”.
The power of stereotypes!
Brexit and AI (Artificial Intelligence) Growth Labs
On 21st October 2025, the UK Department for Science, Innovation and Technology (DSIT) issued a press release containing proposals for AI Growth Labs in which “companies and innovators can test new AI products in real-world conditions , with some rules and regulations temporarily relaxed under strict supervision”.
The press release explained: “ Known as sandboxes , individual regulations are temporarily switched off or tweaked for limited period of time in safe, controlled testing environments. They would initially be set up for key sectors of the economy like healthcare, professional services, transport, and the use of robotics in advanced manufacturing, to accelerate the responsible development and deployment of AI products .”
In the same press release , it was confirmed that the Chancellor of the Exchequer would be announcing “a range of pro-growth reforms that will help deliver that vision [ie for a regulatory system that better supports growth and innovation] set out [in] March’s Regulation Action Plan, … including a plan to save businesses across the country nearly £6 billion a year by 2029 by cracking down on pointless admin tasks”.
Interesting times!
Brexit and “A More Perfect Union” by Marina Wheeler KC
In an interview with The Sunday Times published on 26th October 2025 and entitled “Boris may have been a cad but he was right about Brexit”, Marina Wheeler KC, former wife of Boris Johnson, talks about her new book , “A More Perfect Union”.
According to The Sunday Times article, the new book tells the story of Ms Wheeler’s journey “from wide-eyed European idealist to reluctant Eurosceptic, and presents a rousing defence of the UK’s decision to leave”. The article quotes Ms Wheeler as saying that her vision for a post- Brexit relationship with the EU is to “hold on to sovereignty and then work to find ways of co-operating as closely as possible” on matters such as trade and defence – but , in addition, she is quoted as saying that she thinks that for such UK-EU post-Brexit co-operation to work “does require the EU to recognise that we didn’t do something completely loopy when we left [sic] in 2016”.
The Sunday Times describes Ms Wheeler as “an interesting kind of Brexiteer who reportedly wrote in her book of the UK-EU debacle leading to Brexit that “ I will always mourn that we couldn’t bridge our differences””.
A bitter-sweet reflection on Brexit !
Disclaimer: This article contains general commentary only and should not be relied upon as legal advice.
