The moorings are cast: the United Kingdom entered a new era, Thursday 31 December, after leaving the single European market, an "incredible moment" completing the historic break of Brexit, according to its great architect, Prime Minister Boris Johnson .

At 11 p.m. local time and GMT (midnight in Brussels), without the slightest effusion among a massively confined population, the country stopped applying EU rules, leaving the single market and the customs union.

After 47 years of stormy European integration and after four and a half years of twists and turns following the 2016 referendum, this is the culmination of Brexit for the United Kingdom, officially leaving the EU on January 31 but having benefited from a transitional period to cushion the shock.  

"An incredible moment"

"It's an incredible moment. We have our freedom in our hands and it is up to us to make the most of it," said Boris Johnson in his greetings.

He assured that the United Kingdom would be "open, generous, turned outwards".

"The first day of a new era between the continent and the United Kingdom"

01:34

The sparkling "BoJo" dangled the British with a new era full of promise and a strengthened place in the world of champion of free trade.

In the immediate future, it is a country seriously bereaved by the new coronavirus pandemic and struck by its worst economic crisis in three centuries which is leaving the bosom of Europe, or its straitjacket, it depends.

“The United Kingdom has just become a completely independent country again,” said David Frost, chief British negotiator during trade talks with Brussels, on Twitter.

His European counterpart Michel Barnier admitted to him on RTL radio "a certain bitterness": "No one has ever been able to demonstrate to me the added value of Brexit", he stressed.

Brexit: "It's the end of four and a half years of very complex negotiations"

01:23

The free trade agreement, without quotas or customs duties, concluded in extremis, avoids a too abrupt rupture which would have created chaos at the border or even shortages.

But the upheaval is real: the free movement of goods and people alike to cross the border unimpeded has ended - except between Spain and the British enclave of Gibraltar, as well as between Northern Ireland and the Republic from Ireland.

It is now necessary to fill out customs declarations and undergo health inspections to export through the Channel, a residence permit to settle on the other side, and a health certificate for British dogs and cats traveling to the EU.

"Our own decisions"

The Europhobic Nigel Farage, one of the engines of the victory of the "Leave", welcomed "a giant step forward".

"Our Future, Our UK, Our Fate" headlined the Daily Express tabloid triumphantly on Friday, displaying an image of the Union Jack stamped with the word "FREEDOM".

"In the crisis, without fanfare, the United Kingdom is finally putting an end to the European era," notes the left-wing daily The Guardian more cautiously.

The UK's global ambitions risk colliding with the departure of Donald Trump, a convinced Brexiter unlike his successor in the White House, Joe Biden.

In his country, Boris Johnson must turn the page of a saga that took him to the top of the political scale but has deeply divided the British.

The unity of the Kingdom is cracked, especially on the side of Scotland, which voted by a large majority to stay in the EU.

"Scotland will be back soon, Europe," tweeted Scottish Prime Minister Nicola Sturgeon, determined to hold another independence referendum.

In the English port of Dover, the retired Maureen Martin felt that her country "should never" have joined the European Community in 1973: "We need to make our own decisions and be our own leaders."

The residents of his town have overwhelmingly voted for Brexit but many fear mayhem if the new formalities slow traffic and lengthen truck lines, especially next week.

"Dover is particularly calm"

01:31

Unlike the EU, the UK government has decided to gradually implement customs controls, which will not affect all goods until July.

1,246 pages of agreement

"This Brexit was the child of European malaise and many lies and false promises", regretted French President Emmanuel Macron in his wishes.

Like a Brexit saga rich in twists and turns, it was not until Christmas Eve to see the laborious negotiations between London and Brussels lead to a trade agreement, leaving only a few days to implement its 1,246 pages .

The EU is offering the UK duty-free and quota-free access to its market of 450 million consumers.

But it provides, in order to avoid any unfair competition, for sanctions and compensatory measures in the event of non-compliance with its rules on state aid, the environment, labor law and taxation.

Financial companies, a major sector in London, will lose their automatic right to offer their services in the EU, while British fishermen are disappointed that they still have to share a large part of their waters with Europeans.

With AFP

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