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LONDON – Thirty kilometers of trucks lined up. At Folkestone and Dover, the entry points into England for trains under the Canal and for ferries crossing it, a record traffic jam formed between yesterday and today. Brexit, or rather the fear of what might happen in two weeks, on the night of December 31, when at the end of the so-called “transition phase”, the United Kingdom leaves the European Union, causes the monstrous snake of the cars. , sanctioned by the 2016 referendum and definitively approved by both parties last January, will become a reality.
If the negotiation that has lasted for nine months, but mainly since the referendum four and a half years ago, does not produce a free trade agreement in the next 48 hours, that is, on Sunday night, designated by Brussels as the last deadline then When it comes to ratifying the possible deal with a vote in parliament just before the end of the year, the terrifying line of transport along what is in effect the British border with the EU could become in a constant for months, if not forever.
Brexit, Johnson-von der Leyen: “Negotiations continue.” British Prime Minister: “With the EU still distant on some key issues”
by our correspondent Antonello Guerrera
At the moment, two factors have triggered it: the rush to import as much merchandise as possible, before possible customs duties take effect from January 1, 2021 that would raise their prices; and the parallel rush of supermarkets and shops to stock up on products from Europe, anticipating food shortages due to Brexit.
Perhaps only the massive evacuation of Dunkirk during World War II, when British troops crossed the English Channel in June 1940 with boats of all kinds to escape the Nazi advance, totaling more than 300,000 soldiers, had reached similar dimensions. .
Brexit: No Deal for Berlin, the indictment of the British tabloids. “The Lutheran Merkel does not trust the libertine Boris”
by our correspondent Antonello Guerrera
The fear that such scenes will become a constant has already led to huge parking lots in Kent, the county renamed “the garden of England”, sparking protests from residents because truckers, forced to wait in line for hours on end, transform the surrounding streets in outdoor latrines.
This is not the only cause for alarm on both sides of the Canal. France has asked 600 customs officials and 300 inspectors to increase controls on the Eurostar, the train that passes through the Channel Tunnel, the 50-kilometer mechanical arm (37 of which below sea level) that When it was inaugurated in 1994, it seemed to be the umbilical cord capable of symbolically supporting the British island united to Europe. And among the paradoxical rules envisaged with Brexit, whoever enters the continent will not be able to bring even a ham and cheese sandwich, items subject to customs restrictions.
Brexit puts the future of Erasmus at stake
by our correspondent Antonell0 Guerrera
Desperate British truckers say they will have to feed on chocolate bars. It sounds like a joke, but there is little to laugh about: midnight on December 31st (11pm London time, Brexit time) looms on the horizon like a nightmare for all those who will have to climb now across the Canal.
The chaos can be alleviated, although not completely avoided, if the two parties agree to tomorrow, unless it is postponed again. Public statements and rumors about the deal have fluctuated in a continuous alternation of optimism and pessimism in recent days. The outlines of an agreement on the last three obstacles, fishing rights, competition and arbitration of future disputes, are really visible.
“Fishing without EU”. In the port that decides the Brexit negotiation
by our correspondent Antonello Guerrera
According to rumors, there is really only one question left to be resolved: the extent of the punitive tariffs on the European side, when French and Belgian fishermen will no longer be able to cast their nets in British waters, at the end of a transitional period of several years still to come. define. . Boris johnson he calls on Brussels to surrender, but so far it has almost always been he who has surrendered, of course since he is the weaker of the two litigants, the economic weight of 27 countries against one. The game is about to end, we will soon see the result of the final bluff. Meanwhile, the queue of trucks at the monstrous Canal traffic jam keeps increasing.
