Brexit: a mixed deal for Ireland and Scotland, a victory for Boris Johnson
The deal with the UK has been praised by EU leaders.
Irish Prime Minister Micheal Martin, whose country would have been in the front line if it failed, also welcomed the agreement on Thursday (photo illustration).
Paul FAITH / AFP
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5 mins
The Europeans and the United Kingdom on Thursday, after grueling negotiations and on Christmas Eve, reached a historic agreement on their future trade relations.
This will allow them to avoid the devastating shock of a “no deal” for their savings at the end of the year.
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The agreement reached
between the United Kingdom and the European Union has been welcomed by EU leaders.
The British Prime Minister promised that his country would remain "
culturally, emotionally, historically, strategically and geopolitically attached to Europe
".
This amicable divorce, obtained in snatch after the last 24 hours under high tension, seals nearly half a century of heated marriage between the two partners, four and a half years after the June 2016 referendum on Brexit.
An agreement welcomed by Ireland
The conclusion of a text of 2000 pages in barely ten months constitutes a feat for an agreement of this scope, the conclusion of which usually takes years.
It took two and a half years to negotiate the withdrawal treaty sealing the British departure, concluded at the end of 2019, which provided legal certainty to expatriates on both sides of the Channel and guarantees for the maintenance of peace on the island of Ireland.
Irish Prime Minister Micheal Martin, whose country would have been at the forefront if it failed, hailed Thursday's deal: "
It protects the economy of the entire island, with no hard borders
" cutting it off by two, he argued.
With this trade treaty, the EU offers its former member state unprecedented access without customs duties or quotas to its huge market of 450 million consumers.
But this openness will be accompanied by strict conditions: companies across the Channel will have to comply with a number of evolving rules over time in terms of the environment, labor law and taxation to avoid any dumping.
There are also guarantees for State aid.
A mechanism will allow both parties to quickly activate countermeasures, such as tariffs, in the event of discrepancies on these standards.
"Brexit is coming against the will of the people of Scotland"
Scottish Prime Minister Nicola Sturgeon said on Thursday it was time for the British province to become an "
independent European nation
" after the conclusion of a post-Brexit trade agreement between the United Kingdom and the Union. European.
"
Brexit is coming against the will of the people of Scotland
", who voted 62% against leaving the EU, tweeted Nicola Sturgeon, stressing that "
no deal can ever make up for what Brexit takes away from us
" .
“
It is time to chart our own future as an independent European nation
,” she said, as London denies Scotland a new referendum on independence.
For Welsh Prime Minister Mark Drakeford: “
Any agreement is better than no agreement (...), but this is not the agreement that we would have negotiated.
Welsh businesses will face significant trade barriers in 2021 and we will be ready to help them
”.
A personal victory for Boris Johnson
But for the British Prime Minister, this is indeed a success.
With arms and thumbs raised in a gesture of victory, it was an exhausted but ecstatic-looking Boris Johnson who appeared pictured on Twitter within minutes of announcing a post-Brexit deal.
A staging that allows him to present this agreement torn off at the last minute as a personal victory, explains our correspondent in London,
Muriel Delcroix
.
Because not only does it respect its electoral promise to accomplish Brexit, but also thanks to it the country will benefit from unprecedented access to the European bloc while regaining its independence.
Regardless of whether his government has made concessions on fishing or on competition rules, no one will verify the exact content of a text of 2,000 pages and a few in the middle of Christmas and especially in the midst of a pandemic.
Faced with the specter of a "no deal" which disappears, the British will especially be relieved instead of wondering if it is a good or a bad agreement.
Immediate success is therefore assured for the one who had by opportunism finally chosen to support Brexit on the eve of the referendum in 2016 and constantly undermined the authority of his predecessor Theresa May thereafter.
Nevertheless, will the Prime Minister be able to benefit from this political capital in the long term?
Nothing is less certain as it is increasingly criticized for its chaotic handling of the pandemic and a third wave threatens.
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To read: Brexit: what we know about the agreement between the United Kingdom and the EU
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