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A new era has begun for the UK after it completed its formal separation from the European Union.
The UK stopped following EU rules at 23:00 GMT, when the replacement arrangements for travel, trade, immigration and security cooperation went into effect.
Boris Johnson said the UK had “freedom in our hands” and the ability to do things “differently and better” now that the long Brexit process was over.
But those who oppose leaving the EU argue that the country will be worse off.
Scottish Prime Minister Nicola Sturgeon, whose ambition is to bring an independent Scotland back to the EU, tweeted: “Scotland will return soon, Europe. Keep the light on. “
The BBC’s editor for Europe, Katya Adler, said there was a sense of relief in Brussels that the Brexit process was over, “but there is still regret for Brexit itself.”
The first trucks to reach the borders entered the UK and the EU without delay.
But the Stena Line ferry and ports group tweeted that six cargo loads traveling from Holyhead in Wales to Ireland on Friday morning had to be turned away because they did not have the correct documentation.
UK ministers have warned that there will be some disruptions in the coming days and weeks, as new rules are put in place and British businesses accept the changes.
But officials have insisted that the new border systems are “ready to go.”
The UK officially left the 27-member political and economic bloc on January 31, three and a half years after the British public voted to leave in the 2016 Brexit referendum.
But it stuck to EU trade rules for 11 months as the two sides negotiated their future economic partnership.
A landmark treaty was finally agreed on Christmas Eve and became law in the UK on Wednesday.
Under the new agreements, UK manufacturers will have duty-free access to the EU domestic market, meaning there will be no import duties on goods crossing between Britain and the mainland.
But it does mean more paperwork for businesses and people traveling to EU countries, while there is still uncertainty about what will happen to banks and services.
The UK and Spain have also reached an agreement that means that the border between Gibraltar and Spain will remain open.
Fabián Picardo, Gibraltar’s chief minister, said the agreement still needs to be formalized, but by abolishing the controls between Gibraltar and the Schengen area without an EU passport, he said it would avoid the queues at the border “that make life for people be a pittance and do business. ” hard”.
(Source: BBC)
