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Almost a year after negotiations, and a week before the end of the transition period, the European Union (EU) and the United Kingdom sealed the post-Brexit trade deal. There were several points of tension between the parties (fishing, transport and competition policies will have been the thorniest of files), but, on Christmas Eve, Ursula von der Leyen and Boris Johson closed their heads.
The solution reached by Brussels and London will avoid a disorderly exit and guarantee British access to the European single market (without tariffs or quotas), but it could be a bureaucratic nightmare for citizens and businesses.
These are the fundamental points of an agreement of more than two thousand pages:
1) Circulation
The deal will not affect the rights of the nearly three million European citizens living in the UK or the one million Britons living in EU member states. However, as of January 1, anyone who wants to visit the UK will only be able to do so for a maximum period of three months (without the right to work or study).
For longer stays, a visa must be applied for. More: As of October 1, 2021, you will need to present a passport to enter the UK. Only Irish citizens will be released from this limitation.
2) security
The UK will continue to assist in international investigations, but will abandon, for example, the European arrest warrant system. It will also cease to be a full member of the European Police Service (Europol) and of the European Agency for Judicial Cooperation (Eurojust).
However, it will maintain a privileged access mechanism to the Schengen Information System (SIS II), the database for sharing police alerts on stolen goods and missing persons.
3) Trade
Customs fees at zero and quotas also at zero, establishes the agreement. Objective: not to lower the intensity of imports and exports between the two parties, which in 2019, together, amounted to nearly 500 million euros.
Still, both Brussels and London plan to tighten border controls and tighten the mesh on tax returns for those in and out. The impact of red tape can be enormous, especially when trucking across the English Channel.
4) Quality seal protection
There will be full recognition of the rights to produce and sell certified products. Which means that European producers will have to comply with British standards and vice versa.
5) Competition
There will be a follow-up and sanction mechanism if the EU or the UK feel harmed by the economic, social, labor and even environmental policies of the counterpart. State support and subsidies to companies will obey strict principles of transparency. Disputes, as demanded by Boris Johnson, will not be resolved by the Court of Justice of the European Union.
6) Transportation
Territorial, maritime, rail and road connectivity will be maintained. European driving licenses will continue to be valid in the UK, as the agreement dispenses with the application for international licenses. However, entering British soil with a vehicle will require a green card or a document proving insurance coverage.
Furthermore, the Brussels-London agreement offers guarantees of fair competition and a level playing field between European and British companies (of the different modes of transport).
7) Fishing
European fleets will continue to have access to the British seas until June 2026. On one condition: Brussels will transfer 25% of the value of the catch to London. After that date, there will be annual fee negotiations. Not inconsiderable detail: the species and areas covered by the reduction have not yet been determined.
8) science
The UK will continue to participate (even pay) in the EU’s main research and innovation framework program, Horizon Europe, for the next seven years. It will also remain linked to Copernicus and Euratom.
