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The time has come: Britain finally closes Brexit on Thursday at midnight. Then, after a transition phase of eleven months since leaving the EU, membership of the EU internal market and customs union will also end. The economic separation from the European Union will take place in the New Year.
“The fate of this great country is now firmly in our hands,” Prime Minister Boris Johnson said. “On December 31 at 11 p.m. (local time) a new beginning in the history of our country begins and a new relationship with the EU as its closest ally. That moment has finally come, and now is the time to seize it, ”Johnson said.
The British Parliament had previously passed Johnson’s proposed ratification act in one day. With the approval of the head of state, Queen Elizabeth II, the “Royal Assent”, the law came into force shortly afterwards. Premier Johnson will spend the historic hour with his family at his official residence in Downing Street, London.
Starting already in January 2020
Britain left the EU at the end of January 2020 after 47 years of membership. The trade and association agreement negotiated with the EU at the last minute is now aimed at avoiding a hard break. The most important point is that no customs duties or quantity restrictions will be applied in the trade of goods. In addition, the nearly 1,250-page contract regulates many other issues, including fisheries and cooperation in energy, transport, justice and police.
But there are big changes. In future, controls will be necessary at the borders because the rules have to be checked, even for agricultural products. For citizens, the ability to simply move is over. Visa-free travel will also be time-limited in the future.
European Parliament Brexit representative David McAllister sees the trade pact as a good compromise in light of difficult circumstances and lengthy negotiations. The agreement was “complete, fair and balanced,” said the CDU MEP and chairman of the Foreign Affairs Committee in the EU Parliament of the “Passauer Neue Presse” (Thursday). “Our future partnership with the UK is built on a strong and legally secure foundation, with the prospect of further deepening our relationship.”
The European CSU politician Manfred Weber sees Brexit as a “lesson for the failure of the populists.” With the Brexit referendum and the election of US President Donald Trump, 2016 was “the climax of Twitter populism,” Weber told the German Press Agency in Brussels. “People feel in 2020 and 21 that this type of policy does not produce good results.”
However, EU states will not be immune from future divisions, said Weber, who is the leader of the European People’s Party in the European Parliament. “I also think that the impact of Brexit now is profound and that many have also learned how we have to deal with Europe, how we have to deal with each other.”
