While the United Kingdom faces a unique opportunity afforded to very few advanced economies - to review its laws from first principles - it remains unlikely that it will radically diverge from the EU in most areas, not least because UK helped to shape EU law.

The TCA also limits the possibilities for divergence, while the so-called “Brussels effect” will remain in areas such as data and emissions for the foreseeable future, demanding close EU-UK alignment.

The inaugural EU-UK Forum annual conference assessed, amongst other things, perhaps the biggest challenge of all: re-building trust and realigning the relationship. It convened political commentators and experts, policymakers, businesses, and civil society to discuss the nature of the relationship as it stood at the time of the conference, and the key areas for continued and future co-operation.