A fantastic future as predicted by Boris Johnson or a risky leap into the unknown as detractors Brex? After almost 50 years in the European Union, the United Kingdom opens a new solo chapter on January 1, 2021.
What will change in the UK and the European Union from 1 January?
The United Kingdom officially left the European Union on 31 January 2020, but continued to enforce its rules during a transitional period ending at 23:00 on Thursday in London at midnight in continental Europe. Starting Friday, the country returns alone.
Thanks to the trade agreement reached a week ago by London and Brussels at the end of long and difficult last-minute negotiations, the prospect of tariffs and quotas for goods crossing the border has been blurred. English Channel.
But even with a business, the future is far from perfect. British exporters will have to present new customs documents to prove that your products are suitable for the European single market.
London has urged companies to prepare, but industries say the government has failed to provide IT systems and support staff on time, increasing the risk of chaos.
London’s plan to return to the world stage
Defending the idea of “Global Britain”London is trying to revitalize its bilateral relations with the rest of the world, especially with its “closest and most important ally”, the United States, in Johnson’s words.
But he lost an asset with the defeat of Donald Trump, an enthusiastic supporter of Brex. And the coronavirus pandemic has hit the British economy hard, threatening the bright future promised by the Conservative prime minister. The point is that the UK is not closing in on itself, but is opening up to the outside world to conclude free trade agreements worldwide.
“Now that the UK is back, it’s time for producers, men and women in action and innovators to help us write the most interesting chapter so far,” said the Minister of International Trade. Liz Truss, in October, promising future exports of all sorts of British goods, from creams to robots.
In addition to the European Union, the United Kingdom has already signed post-Brexit trade agreements with Japan, Canada, Switzerland, Singapore and several Latin American countries led by Mexico and Chile. And it is negotiating with the United States, Australia and New Zealand, among others.
Agreements in preparation or concluded, including the one signed with Brussels, account for 80% of Britain’s foreign trade by 2022, says the government, which has reshaped the ministry External relations to integrate their generous development aid into the British diplomatic agenda.
What will happen to Britain after Brexit?
Johnson’s big promise in the December legislature last year was to “achieve Brexit” and then end the growing economic disparities between London’s wealthy finances and the rest of the country, especially the post-industrial areas of the north.
But this “upgrade” program through large investments, such as the HS2 high-speed line to operate in central and northern England, has been ruled out due to the pandemic.
The government insists, however, that its long-term goals remain and that the money London has so far contributed to the European budget will be better spent on British soil.
Some Brexit advocates have called for a radical overhaul of the economic model to turn the country into a “Singapore on the Thames”, a kind of tax haven with an ultra-deregulated financial sector that is becoming a strong rival at the gates of the European Union. But this was hampered by the terms of the trade agreement, with which Brussels made sure it would avoid any unfair competition.
The government ensures that the conclusion of trade agreements will not be to the detriment of key issues, such as public health or agri-food standards, especially in its negotiations with the United States.
At the national level, the Conservative executive will have to work for the reunification of the British, divided by a Brexit against which both Scotland and Northern Ireland had voted.
“We have left an empty seat at the table in Europe”, but “it will not be empty for a long time”, threatened the Scottish independent MP Ian Blackford and called for a new referendum on self-determination, after the one lost in 2014, hoping to reintegrate The EU as an independent state.
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