Brexit: what we know about the agreement between the United Kingdom and the EU
On December 24, 2020, the United Kingdom and the European Union reach a post-Brexit trade agreement.
This will make it possible to avoid a “no deal” in extremis.
Daniel Leal-Olivas AFP / Archivos
Text by: RFI Follow
5 mins
In all, it took ten intense months of negotiations, in fact record time for an agreement negotiated in addition in times of a pandemic, for the European Union and the United Kingdom to come to an agreement.
This is what they announced this afternoon, shortly before 4 p.m., on the historic agreement concerning their future commercial relationship.
This will make it possible to avoid in extremis a "no deal" harmful to their economies already weakened by the consequences of the crisis linked to Covid-19.
The United Kingdom will therefore leave the European Union for good on December 31.
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Boris Johnson thus celebrated "
the regained independence of his country
", but also had a word for the 27: "
We will be your friends, your allies, your supporters, and let us not forget your first market.
Because even if we leave the European Union, this country will remain culturally, emotionally, historically strategically geographically linked to Europe
”.
At the moment, little is known about the fund, but it is the relief that dominates to have avoided a failure and months of economic hardship.
1,000 billion euros in annual trade without customs duties or quotas, this is the achievement of this agreement, it is the game in these cases and the work of conviction with the opinions had already started on Wednesday .
Everyone congratulates themselves on having obtained the best, but we already know and through the voice of Michel Barnier the first and the only one for the moment to have expressed regret, that the agreement does not cover the Erasmus program, for example.
It is therefore over for student exchanges.
Restricted freedom of movement for workers
The second regret formulated by the now ex-EU negotiator for
Brexit
is the level of ambition in terms of citizens' mobility.
There are no details yet, but we understand that Boris Johnson was keen to give the pro-Brexit electorate what he asked for: strong restrictions on the freedom of movement of workers, another major stake for the future as well as fair competition.
Ursula von der Leyen assured him, the conditions are strict and the guarantees strong.
Finally, for fishing which has stuck so hard in recent hours, the EU is giving up 25% of the product of its fishing in British waters.
The details of the species and areas affected by this percentage have not yet been determined, but it is valid for 5 and a half years and will then be renegotiated annually.
What will change from January 1, 2021
From 1 January next, the European Union and the United Kingdom will trade very differently, because the United Kingdom is indeed exiting the single market, but also the Customs Union with the European Union.
With this trade treaty, the EU offers its former member state access to its market of 450 million consumers, without customs duties or quotas.
Never seen.
But at the border, carriers will have a plethora of declarations to complete and present at the border where random checks will be applied.
For Brussels, there was no question of letting in goods at a discount.
From now on, carriers will have to present import and export certificates, compliance with sanitary and phytosanitary standards for certain products, in particular food products, payment of VAT.
London will apply a flexible regime for incoming goods for 6 months.
But ultimately, it is an administrative headache and additional costs synonymous with delay that not all companies will be able to bear.
A looming logistical challenge
It is also a logistical challenge also for the British government which estimates the impact on its growth at 5% by 2035. But like fishing, goods do not weigh much in trade with the EU.
On the other hand, services, which include finance, account for 80% of its GDP.
But they are treated separately and are not affected by the agreement reached on Thursday.
The process is still far from over, as the 27 have to approve this text.
The British Parliament will debate it on December 30, which promises to be a formality given the majority the British government has and the support of the Labor opposition.
For its part, the European Parliament is expected to debate the post-Brexit trade agreement in January 2021.
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To read: EU-UK Brexit Agreement: review of four years of negotiations
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Brexit
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