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A steady trickle of trucks rolled off ferries and trains on both sides of the English Channel on Friday, a quiet New Year’s Day after an overnight seismic shift in relations between the European Union and Britain.
The busy freight route between south-east England and north-west France is on the front lines of change now that the UK has completely abandoned the economic embrace of the 27-nation bloc, the final stage of Brexit.
“For most trucks they won’t even notice the difference,” said John Keefe, a spokesman for Eurotunnel, which transports vehicles under the Canal. “There was always the risk that if this happened at a busy time, we might run into some difficulties, but it happens overnight on a bank holiday and a long weekend.”
Lewis Joly / AP
A man hands a document to the driver of the first truck, from Estonia, entering the Eurotunnel terminal in Coquelles, northern France.
Britain left the vast single market for people, goods and services of the European bloc at 11 p.m. London time, at midnight in Brussels, on Thursday, in the biggest economic change the country has experienced since World War II. A new trade deal between the UK and the EU will bring new restrictions and red tape, but for British Brexiters, it means regaining national independence from the EU and its web of rules.
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Prime Minister Boris Johnson, whose support for Brexit helped drive the country out of the EU, called it “an incredible moment for this country.”
“We have our freedom in our hands, and it is up to us to make the most of it,” he said in a New Year’s video message.
The historic moment passed smoothly, with the UK’s lockdown measures against the coronavirus reducing mass gatherings to celebrate or cry. Brexit, which had dominated public debate in Britain for years, was even pushed off the front pages of some newspapers by news of the massive Covid-19 vaccination effort.
Frank Augstein / AP
Trucks that arrived after the end of the transition period with the European Union are checked in the port of Dover, England.
On the quiet streets of London, which voted strongly to remain in the EU in Britain’s 2016 membership referendum, there was little enthusiasm for Brexit.
“I think it’s a disaster, among the many disasters this year,” said Matt Steel, physician. “It’s a c ….. deal. I don’t really see anything positive in that, to be honest. “
The break comes 11 months after a political Brexit that left the two sides in limbo of a “transition period” in which EU rights and rules continued to apply in Britain.
The trade deal sealed on Christmas Eve after months of tense negotiations ensures that the two parties can continue to buy and sell goods without tariffs or fees. But businesses are facing loads of new costs and paperwork, including customs declarations and border controls.
The English Channel Port of Dover and the Channel Tunnel braced for delays as the new measures were introduced.
Peter Morrison / AP
Police conduct a security sweep at the P&O ferry terminal in the port of Larne, on the north coast of Northern Ireland, UK.
The vital supply route was blocked for days after France closed its border to UK truckers for 48 hours last week in response to a rapidly spreading variant of the virus identified in England.
The pandemic and a holiday weekend made traffic across the Canal light on Friday. Britain has also delayed imposing comprehensive customs controls for several months to allow companies to adjust.
The British government insisted that “the border systems and infrastructure we need are in place and we are ready for the UK’s new start.”
New checks were also carried out throughout the Irish Sea. A dozen trucks left the first ferry to reach Dublin Port from Wales before dawn, passing new customs inspections without delay.
Lewis Joly / AP
A truck from Great Britain passes over the green and orange lines on the road that is part of the new “smart border” customs infrastructure to enter France through the Eurotunnel.
“We have avoided the kind of dramatic halt of a no-deal Brexit, but that doesn’t mean that things are not fundamentally changing, because they are,” said Irish Foreign Minister Simon Coveney.
“Now we are going to see the 80 billion euros of trade across the Irish Sea between Great Britain and Ireland interrupted by a lot more checks and declarations, red tape and paperwork, costs and delays.”
Hundreds of millions of people in Britain and the bloc also face changes in their daily lives, with new rules for work visas, travel insurance and pet formalities.
And months and years of discussion and discussion lie ahead, on everything from fair competition to fishing quotas, as Britain and the EU establish their new relationship as friends, neighbors and rivals.
Brexit could also have major constitutional repercussions for the UK. Northern Ireland, which shares a border with EU member Ireland, remains more closely tied to the bloc’s economy under the terms of the divorce. Therefore, while goods will continue to flow freely across the Irish land border, there will be new procedures for trade between Northern Ireland and the rest of the UK. In the long term, this could alienate Northern Ireland from the rest of the UK and bring it closer to its neighbor.
In Scotland, which voted strongly in 2016 to stay, Brexit has bolstered support for the UK’s breakup. The country’s independence prime minister, Nicola Sturgeon, tweeted: “Scotland will be back soon, Europe. Keep the light on. “
European leaders, whose patience with Britain has been worn out by years of Brexit melodrama, expressed regret at the UK’s departure and anger at the forces that pushed it forward.
“The UK remains our neighbor, but also our friend and ally,” French President Emmanuel Macron said in his New Year’s address to the nation. “This decision to leave Europe, this Brexit, was the fruit of European malaise and of many lies and false promises.”
