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The EU Commission: “Friendship remains” – London leaves the European single market and “the EU-UK association agreement on trade and cooperation enters into force. This will provide a solid foundation for our continued friendship with Great Britain. But there will be big changes.” So writes the European Commission on Twitter after midnight.
Real consent and new business relationships – In the late afternoon of December 31, Royal Consent also arrived, Queen Elizabeth’s green light for Brexit. And as of January 1, 2021, trade relations are governed by the agreement signed by European leaders and British Prime Minister Boris Johnson on Christmas Eve. The free trade agreement, without quotas or customs duties, concluded in extremis with Brussels, avoids an abrupt break in relations between the two sides of the Canal, potentially devastating from an economic point of view. But the consequences are serious: as of January 1, 2021, the free movement of goods and people will cease.
Agreement on Gibraltar – In extremis, on the morning of December 31, the draft agreement was also signed between London and Madrid on Gibraltar, the British enclave in southern Spain, which provides for the abolition of border controls. The rock that dominates the strait will continue to have free circulation with the Spanish territory.
Scotland and Northern Ireland traps – A new era begins for Great Britain, with new pitfalls: among the most important are the independence goals of Scotland, which calls for a new referendum in this regard, and Northern Ireland. Both could separate from London to join the Union. Scottish Prime Minister Nicola Sturgeon is convinced of this and, in her New Year’s tweet, addresses Brussels with these words: “Keep the lights on. We will be back soon.”
Johnson: “Freedom at last” – Prime Minister Boris Johnson, for his part, in his speech at the end of the year, commented in his speech on the country’s official exit from the European single market: “We have freedom in our hands.”
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