[ad_1]
Four years, 27 weeks and two days after a referendum that divided the country nearly in half, the UK left the EU orbit on Thursday night in an exit that was remarkably low-key and marked by warnings of potential disruptions by come.
In a sometimes gloomy New Years message, Boris Johnson largely ignored Brexit, an outcome he arguably shaped more than any other politician, to focus instead on the number of Covid-19 victims and what he called “the severity.” 2020 “.
With most of England subject to strict restrictions and hospitals warning of a dire winter coronavirus crisis in the coming weeks, the chimes of Big Ben, temporarily reconnected from ongoing restoration work, sounded on nearly empty streets at 11pm.
This was the crucial moment for Brexit. While the UK formally left the EU at the end of January 2020, a transition period meant that almost all tangible changes were postponed – until now.
Since Friday morning, individuals and businesses, both in the UK and beyond, are faced with a new and dizzying series of red tape, much of it yet to be confirmed, covering everything from travel, residence, work. and tourism, up to the supply of goods and services. .
Considerable government anxiety remains centered on the situation at the English Channel ports in Kent, particularly after Covid-related delays in early December caused thousands of trucks to backtrack at a disused airfield, one of 10 sites prepared for a possible disruption caused by Brexit.
The Brexit moment passed without ceremony in Dover. The city had a ghostly quality to it, Covid emptied it of New Years celebrations as they approached 11 p.m. with half a dozen trucks trying to cross the line before the new trade barriers were erected. Greeted by two police officers, they were told that the last ferry had left at 9 p.m. bound for France. Those who had evidence of a Covid-19 test in the last 72 hours were able to move to the small truck park in the port where they could sleep overnight before boarding the 7:40 a.m. ferry, the first trip from Dover under the new Brexit trade rules.
Officials expect a smooth start to the new era, but are prepared for possible delays next week, and government estimates suggest that more than half of smaller businesses have yet to prepare for the end of free movement. of goods and services.
It all adds to an inbox from the prime minister that is already overwhelmed by the impact of the coronavirus, among other things the government’s decision to postpone the return to school of some students next week, and with the Labor Party accusing the secretary from education, Gavin Williamson, from “serial incompetence.” ”.
Johnson used much of his New Years message to herald the end of a year “in which the government was forced to tell people how to live their lives, how long to wash their hands, how many households could come together.”
He was a long way from his message of 2019, where, fresh from a landslide electoral victory, the prime minister promised “a fantastic year and an extraordinary decade for our UK.”
Johnson maintained some of his trademark Brexit momentum this time, arguing that the development of the Oxford / AstraZeneca coronavirus vaccine was illustrative of a UK “free to do things differently, and if necessary better, than our own. friends in the EU. “
“This is an amazing time for this country,” Johnson said, citing what he said were limitless possibilities with trade and innovation. “We have our freedom in our hands and it is up to us to make the most of it.”
The reality, in the short term at least, is that 11 p.m. on Thursday marked the end of many previous freedoms for British people and businesses, even to the point of restricting where freight drivers can travel within the Kingdom. United.
To mitigate the backlog of trucks at Channel ports, shippers now need what’s called a Kent access permit, or “kermit” for short, even to enter the county. Starting Friday, those without the 24-hour pass can be detained by government officials, fined £ 300 and returned.
However, an unresolved issue in the trade deal, agreed between Johnson and the EU on Christmas Eve and voted into law by parliament on Wednesday, has been partially resolved.
A last minute deal between the UK government and Spain will allow Gibraltarians to move freely between the British overseas territory and the EU, but the deal will only come into effect at the end of the year.
Spain’s Foreign Minister, Arancha González Laya, said she hoped that border controls, though applied lightly, would be required over the next six months to allow the agreement in principle to be formalized.
Under the agreement, Gibraltar will be part of the EU’s Schengen free travel zone. Instead, the EU’s border agency Frontex will carry out checks at The Rock airport and ports, a point of contention in talks with the British government.
Dominic Raab, the UK Foreign Secretary, said: “All parties are committed to mitigating the effects of the end of the transition period in Gibraltar, and in particular [to] Ensuring the fluidity of the border, which is clearly in the best interest of the people living on both sides. We remain steadfast in our support for Gibraltar and its sovereignty. “
Spain has refused to allow the post-Brexit trade and security deal to apply to Gibraltar, over which it has a territorial claim. Gibraltar’s head of government, Fabián Picardo, said: “There will be complexity to come… we can finish with an agreement on the [free] movement of people but not of goods “.
Similarly, Northern Ireland will see a more gradual approach to the post-Brexit world, with the requirement for customs declarations when retailers in Britain ship products to non-commercial customers in Northern Ireland deferred for three months.
With Northern Ireland under the rules of the single market and the EU customs union, food products of animal origin shipped there from the rest of the UK will also require export health certificates from April.
