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The ringing of bells from the famous Big Ben, the clock on the tower of the Palace of Westminster, the center of British power, said goodbye to the old year, but also marked the end of a British historical era, for the definitive exit of the United Kingdom from the European Union (EU), amid threats from the Scottish Prime Minister to seek independence from London and return to the bloc.
There were no parties, but no protests either. Quite an anticlimax. They were only seen in the vicinity of the iconic clock, which had been silent for more than a year of repair work.
Thus closed the dramatic year of negotiations of the parameters of the future of the British relationship with its European partners, with whom he managed to sign a business agreement on Christmas Eve, and its subsequent ratification into UK law by Parliament in an extraordinary session held in Westminster last Wednesday.
“This is a historic moment”announced, at the stroke of midnight, British Prime Minister Boris Johnson from his office at 10 Downing Street. “We have our freedom in our hands and it is up to us to make the most of it,” Johnson proclaimed, in an attempt to allay fears about the possible dire effects of Britain’s departure from the European bloc, to which it had belonged for 48 years.
(In Context: UK Completes Separation From European Union)
About 125.5 kilometers from central London, the Port of Dover and at the entrance to the Eurotunnel, crosses from England to France, the reality was the protagonist yesterday that new era of which the British ruler spoke, in reference to the so-called ‘Brexit’, as the British rupture is known, which began in June 2016, when a divided United Kingdom approved an exit referendum, promoted by anti-Europeanists, including Johnson himself.
In Dover, there did not seem to be much news either, a few trailers made a slow and jerky line, in which customs officials reviewed export documents, vehicle papers and personal documents of its crew members.
(Also read: What’s coming for the UK and the EU with ‘post-brexit’?)
In those initial hours, neither the chaos nor the roadblocks predicted by the detractors of the agreement, which includes customs controls, limits on the free movement of people and products between both sides of the English Channel, which were previously non-existent, were not seen. . This tranquility is explained because the Johnson government decided not to impose strict border control in the next six months.
“We have our freedom in our hands and it is up to us to make the most of it,” proclaimed Johnson, in an attempt to allay fears about the possible dire effects of Britain’s departure from the European bloc, to which it had belonged for 47 years.
What’s next for both parties? On the side of the European bloc, analysts assure that ‘Brexit’ may be an opportunity.
On an economic level, the approval of the huge European agreement on the post-pandemic recovery plan, which creates a common debt, would certainly have been much more difficult with the UK as a member.
“With the British we could not even have argued” about the multimillion-dollar revival plan, estimated historian Robert Frank, author of a book dedicated to Anglo-European relations. As recognized by European media, this could be an ideal economic recovery scenario for the EU, affected by the covid-19 pandemic, with the recovery fund of 7,000 million euros.
Furthermore, it could also be a scenario for multilateral cooperation for the EU.
Pierre Vimont, former representative of France to the EU, said that London will want to continue having a “Special relationship with France and Germany, and that Franco-German couple does not want to break that relationship”. Apparently the UK’s hope is “Re-entering the European diplomatic discussions through the window”he joked.
On the London side, the defenders of the British exit from the European bloc, led by Johnson himself, the country has achieved the recovery of independence, sovereignty and control of decisions, which until now had to be subject to the community mandate represented in the European Union.
In light of the text of the 2,000-page agreement signed at the last minute, new immigration controls, the maintenance of regulatory alignment, the state of the service industries, fishing, access to databases, defense cooperation and , perhaps above all, the ambiguous place of Northern Ireland within the London-Brussels deal.
(Read here: The ‘Brexit’ is completed in a historic day for Europe)
In contrast, British pro Europeans see January 1, 2021 as the date they mark “A tragic national error”, as the London newspaper The Guardian put it in its editorial.
Analysts such as Stephen Bellas, an expert on the subject of ‘Brexit’ and a professor at the London South Bank University agree on this, for whom his country should not have become independent from the EU.
“We have been adrift”Bellas told EL TIEMPO, referring to the fact that without European support, the British are unprotected in an economic world controlled by the powerful Asians, led by China on the one hand, the United States and the European Union on the other.
Officials monitor cargo from Scotland as truckers disembark from a ferry at the port of Larne in County Antrim, Northern Ireland, on January 1, 2021.
Sturgeon threat
The other concern has to do with threats to the very existence of the UK. According The GuardianMany of the most fanatical Brexit supporters hoped that the UK’s departure would trigger the breakup of the European Union. But in practice, what has happened is that the 27 member countries of the EU have closed ranks against the British demands.
Inside the UK, experts believe that the whole issue around ‘Brexit’ exposed internal divisions. Majorities in Scotland, Northern Ireland, London and other cities opposed Brexit, as well as most young people and most graduates, Bellas recalled, explaining that there are high chances that Scotland will call an independence referendum of the British Crown, to achieve EU membership, to win re-election Scottish Prime Minister Nicola Sturgeon, who was emphatic in ensuring that “Scotland will be back soon, Europe. Keep the light on. ”
(Also read: UK approves AstraZeneca / Oxford vaccine against covid-19)
On the other side is Northern Ireland, which is the only nation in the United Kingdom, which has a physical border with Europe. The divorce with the European bloc could cost the regional economy about 80,000 million euros [72.000 millones de libras esterlinas], for controls and declarations, bureaucracy and paperwork, costs and delays, “said the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Ireland, Simon Coveney, assuring that there is nothing to celebrate this beginning of the year.
On the European side, there was an atmosphere of relief, after the long four and a half years of negotiations following the British request to leave the European Union, which will redirect its efforts to the economic recovery of the region affected by the covid pandemic -19, with the recovery fund of 7 billion euros, which will be distributed between loans and aid to the European countries and regions most affected by the disease, according to experts from the community bloc.
For his part, the president of France, Emmanuel Macron, used his New Year’s Eve message to question the scope of ‘Brexit’, calling it a product of “lies and false promises” and in a subtle way he declared himself a defender of European interests. In fact, he sent the French Minister for European Affairs, Clement Beaune, to the port of Calais, to inspect border control operations for vehicles arriving from the UK.
There Beaune assured that “France will be attentive to the implementation of a trade agreement after the ‘Brexit’ reached last week between Great Britain and the European Union”.
“This agreement must be adhered to very strictly and must also contribute to developing our cooperation with Great Britain in all sectors, including fisheries.“, he stressed.
Along the way, the divorce will be felt by citizens, both British who wish to live in Europe or Europeans who will be able to reside in the United Kingdom, they must apply for a visa. Which made the British Prime Minister’s own father, Stanley Johnson, 80, whoever had voted in favor of the UK remaining in the EU, has applied for French citizenship, which would give you rights and freedoms in Europe now inaccessible to most British people.
MARÍA VICTORIA CRISTANCHO
FOR THE TIME
London
