The United Kingdom severely severed ties with the European Union on Thursday, an hour before midnight, ending 48 years of troubled relations to become a “free” country committed to a challenging solo future.
“When the sun rises tomorrow in 2021 … Britain will be free to do things differently and, if necessary, better than our friends in the EU … free to trade for anyone and free to promote our ambition.” , said Prime Minister Boris Johnson in a year-end message more focused on coronavirus than Brexit.
At 23:00 (local and GMT), at midnight in most of continental Europe, the country left the EU customs union for good.
Due to the pandemic, there were no holidays. Just what some consider to be discreet: Big Ben, the huge bell in a tower of the British Parliament, under restoration since 2017, which exceptionally came out of its silence to ring the New Year’s bells, rang and he an hour earlier in the frame. of tests intended to verify its mechanism.
With this historic outing, which took place “in Downing Street with his family”, the charismatic and controversial Johnson achieves an important personal victory after taking over the reins of this chaotic process in July 2019.
His executive even avoided a last-minute shock, reaching an agreement with the Spanish government on Thursday to keep the border with Gibraltar open: the small British enclave on the southern tip of the Iberian Peninsula will be integrated into the Schengen area of free movement of people.
Hope and concern
After years of chaos and political confrontations, the United Kingdom officially left the EU on 31 January, putting into practice what the British decided with 52% of the vote in the June 2016 referendum.
But for eleven months, the country was in a “transition period”, during which time it remained in the customs union and in the single market, while discussing its future relationship with the 27
The negotiation, which repeatedly seemed doomed to failure, came to fruition on December 24: London and Brussels concluded the most comprehensive and comprehensive free trade agreement possible in a record time of ten months.
At the same time, the EU offers unprecedented access without tariffs or quotas to its huge 450 million consumer market, in exchange for the UK’s commitment to comply with rules that will evolve over time in terms of environment, labor rights and taxes, in order to avoid any unfair competition. .
This prevented chaos on British borders, its ports were blocked by trucks subject to heavy customs procedures and the lack of products added to the sadness of a third confinement caused by a strong resurgence of coronavirus.
However, despite the agreement, bureaucracy will increase in Dover, the main British port on the English Channel, and feelings of hope and concern have been mixed.
“It will be better, we have to govern ourselves and be our own bosses,” Maureen Martin, a retired Englishwoman, told AFP, while Kirk Hughes, an IT employee, admitted that he was “a little nervous”. in connection with potential disturbances.
Looking to the future
The challenges are now considerable for the Johnson administration.
He has promised to give the UK a new place in the world, but is on the verge of losing a strong ally with the departure of Donald Trump, a Brexit supporter who will be replaced in the White House by the more pro-European Democrat. Joe Biden.
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 long,” threatened Scottish Independent MP Ian Blackford, whose party, the SNP, is calling for a new referendum on self-determination, after losing in 2014. with the hope of being able to reintegrate the EU as an independent state.
Since joining the European Economic Community in 1973, the British relationship with the bloc has been marked by conflict.
More interested in economic integration than in politics, London refused to participate in the Schengen agreements in 1985 and in 1993 in the single currency. And he asked to contribute less to the common budget.
The EU now loses its first member once and for all, with 66 million inhabitants and a saving of $ 2.85 billion. And the fear that other populists will be tempted to follow suit wins.
But free of British brakes, he will be able to continue working on his project of greater political integration.
“It has been a long road. It is time to leave Brexit behind. Our future is built in Europe,” said European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen.