Index – Abroad – The day has also come: Britain has left the EU



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The 11-month transitional period beginning on January 31, 2020 has ended.

with this, Great Britain withdrew from the European Union. London’s membership in the single internal market and the European Union customs union also ceased at zero o’clock on Friday.

With this, on Friday new rules came into force in the relationship between the United Kingdom and the European Union. One of the most important changes is the abolition of the automatic application of the four EU freedoms of free movement of people, goods, capital and services in bilateral trade, and the introduction by the British government of new immigration regulations for newcomers from EU countries. .

One of the most important changes affecting EU citizens has been British immigration regulations.

As of Friday, the UK abolished the freedom of movement for EU people and introduced immigration rules based on a scoring system that applies equally to all newcomers from the EU and non-EU countries. Under this regulation, UK authorities assess applications for establishment based primarily on applicants’ qualifications and knowledge of English.

EU citizens who arrived before the Friday deadline and are already legally residing in the UK can still keep all their acquired rights. To do this, they must apply to the UK authorities for an indefinite residence permit and established legal status. The deadline for submission is June 30.

The other key element of the 1,246-page agreement is a free trade agreement that will provide 100% customs liberalization, that is, trade free of tariffs and quotas, in bilateral trade between the UK and the EU from Friday.

According to official statistics, the value of trade between the United Kingdom and the European Union was 668 billion pounds sterling (272 billion HUF) last year.

However, with the agreement, there have been a number of fundamental changes to the rules. These include the abolition of guaranteed access to the European Union’s single internal market for the service sector, which accounts for 80 percent of Britain’s annual gross domestic product (GDP). This could be particularly sensitive for financial services companies in London’s financial sector, the City, which employs more than 300,000 people.

In the history of the European Union and its predecessors, there was no example of a full member leaving until the British withdrawal. The UK spent 47 years and a month as a member of the European Community and then as its successor, a member of the European Union, on January 1, 1973, under the leadership of Sir Edward Heath, then Prime Minister of the Conservative Party. As a prelude to Brexit, a referendum on British membership of the EU was held on June 23, 2016, with a narrow majority of 51.9% of the participants voting in favor of its departure.



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