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In the extreme south of England, traffic is slow. The queue of trucks is almost endless. The same is seen on the French side. The A16 motorway near Calais has been crowded in recent weeks with trucks crossing the canal.
– The British are fueling like never before, says Sébastien Rivera, who heads France’s national transport organization to the French newspaper Le Monde, who can say that the number of trucks on the roads has almost doubled in recent weeks. Now almost 20,000 trucks transport goods through the English Channel every day.
– They fear new fees, procedures and fees, says Rivera.
The queues along the road near Ashford were slow today.
Photo: Matt Dunham / AP
The Navy is on standby
It is not just trucks that are increasing in number. Four British warships are on standby. They have been ordered to detain trawlers from EU countries if they try to enter the British fishing zone.
In some extreme cases, warships can escort foreign fishing vessels to the nearest port.
– We will not shoot the French fishermen. It will only happen if they believe it is a danger to their own lives, a British Navy source tells The Guardian newspaper.
The decision evokes memories of Britain’s so-called “cod war” with Iceland for fishing rights in the North Atlantic in the 1960s and 1970s.
Across the channel, the French authorities take the news with humor and overwhelming calm.
“Keep calm and move on,” is Paris’s reaction.
Big changes
This week it emerged that Boris Johnson believes there is a “high probability” that the UK will not reach a trade deal with the EU.
The post-Brexit transition period expires on New Years. After the UK left the EU on December 31 last year, the country has had one year to reach a trade agreement that will apply from January 1, 2021.
So far they have not been able to do that. In the worst case, there could be queues and chaos at border crossings between the EU and the UK.
The BBC writes that Brits must prepare for changes in the way they live and work from January 1, 2021.
- Without a trade agreement, prices can go up, both for goods they buy in the EU and for goods they sell to the EU.
- Different standards for food and packaging can be a problem. British products are at risk of being detained at the border.
- Stronger border control can create long lines for trucks at the border.
- Collaboration on security and data sharing will be more difficult. The UK, for example, will lose access to Europe’s fingerprint and criminal record databases. British police may have a more difficult time pursuing criminals operating in multiple countries.
