The time is March 2018.  The United Kingdom (UK) committed to leave the European Union (EU) in March 2019. What are the issues the UK and the EU had to resolve for Brexit to be relatively smooth and orderly?

What will be an ideal response?

POSSIBLE RESPONSE: The United Kingdom's vote to leave the EU, or "Brexit," as the UK's decision to leave is commonly referred to, created a number of challenges for the UK and EU to resolve. The vote to leave did not address the specifics of how the UK will implement the decision to leave. In general, the UK needed to establish the fundamental relationship it will have with the EU. Specifically, one of the major issues is the border between Northern Ireland and Ireland. Northern Ireland is part of the UK. Ireland will remain with the EU, but the entire island of Ireland functions as one economy. Another issue is that the UK and the EU had to establish tariffs and customs procedures for trade between the UK and the remaining members of the EU. The UK and the EU also needed to decide if there will be differences in product regulations and standards, and how these will apply to trade. Policies and procedures related to trade in services had to be negotiated. One in particular is the extent to which London banks can continue to sell financial services to EU firms and residents. The UK and EU needed to decide if the UK will be able to negotiate its own free trade agreements with outside countries and if the UK will continue to benefit from the more than thirty-five free trade agreements that the EU has with other countries. The UK and EU had to address the rules for immigration between the UK and the EU. The extent to which the UK will continue to pay the EU, either into the general budget or for specific activities, also had to be determined.