UK ends long Brexit journey with economic break with EU

Britain’s lengthy and sometimes bitter divorce from the European Union ended an economic divide on Thursday that leaves the EU smaller and the UK freer but more isolated in a troubled world.

Britain left the vast single market for people, goods and services of the European bloc at 11pm London time and midnight in Brussels, completing the biggest economic shift the country has experienced since World War II. A different 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.

Prime Minister Boris Johnson, whose support for Brexit helped drive the country out of the EU, called it “an amazing 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 break-up comes 11 months after a political Brexit that left the two parties in limbo for a “transition period,” as a separated couple still living together, arguing and wondering if they can remain friends. Now the UK has finally moved on.

It was a day that some had longed for and others feared since Britain voted in a 2016 referendum to leave the EU, but it turned out to be somewhat anti-climax. UK lockdown measures to curb the coronavirus cut down on mass gatherings to celebrate or mourn the moment, though a handful of Brexiters defied restrictions on toasting outside Parliament when Big Ben’s bell rang 11 times an hour. .

A free trade deal sealed on Christmas Eve after months of tense negotiations ensures that Britain and the 27-nation EU can continue to buy and sell goods without tariffs or quotas. That should help protect the 660 billion pounds ($ 894 billion) in annual trade between the two parties, and the hundreds of thousands of jobs that depend on it.

But businesses are facing loads of new costs and paperwork, including customs declarations and border controls. Operators are struggling to digest the new rules imposed by the 1,200-page trade agreement.

The Port of Dover in the English Channel and the Eurotunnel passenger and cargo route braced for delays when the new measures were introduced, although the pandemic and a holiday weekend meant that traffic through the Channel was light, with just a trickle of trucks arriving at French Calais border posts as 2020 ended. 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 variance spreading virus identified in England.

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.”

But the trucking companies were holding their breath. Youngs Transportation in the UK suspended services to the EU until January 11 “to let things settle down.”

“We calculate that it gives the country a week or so to get used to all these new systems in and out, and we can take a look and hopefully solve any problems before we ship our trucks,” said the director of the company, Rob Hollyman.

The services sector, which makes up 80 per cent of the UK economy, doesn’t even know what the rules will be for doing business with the EU in 2021. Many of the details have yet to be finalized. Months and years of more bickering and bickering lie ahead on everything from fair competition to fishing quotas, as Britain and the EU establish their new relationship as friends, neighbors and rivals.

Hundreds of millions of people in Britain and the bloc also face changes in their daily lives. British and EU citizens have lost the automatic right to live and work on each other’s territory. From now on, they will have to follow immigration rules and obtain work visas. Tourists face new headaches, including travel insurance and pet paperwork.

For some in Britain, including the Prime Minister, it is a proud moment and an opportunity for the UK to set new diplomatic and economic priorities. Johnson said the UK is now “free to make trade deals around the world and free to further our ambition to be a scientific superpower.”

Conservative lawmaker Bill Cash, who has campaigned for Brexit for decades, called it a “victory for democracy and sovereignty.”

That is not an opinion that is widely shared across the Channel. In the traditional New Year’s speech by the French president, Emmanuel Macron expressed his regret.

“The UK is still our neighbor, but also our friend and ally,” he said. “This decision to leave Europe, this Brexit, was the fruit of European malaise and of many lies and false promises.”

Divorce could also have major constitutional implications 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, a state that could alienate it from the rest of the UK.

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.”

Many in Britain were apprehensive about a leap into the unknown that is occurring during a life-changing pandemic around the world.

“It makes me very sad that we are leaving,” said London-based filmmaker Jen Pearcy-Edwards. “I think COVID has overshadowed everything that is happening. But I think the other thing that has happened is that people feel a greater sense of community, and I think that makes it even sadder that we are dividing our community a bit. , leaving our neighbors in Europe.

“I am hopeful that we will find other ways to rebuild ties,” he said.