The final step in a trying Brexit, the European Parliament is expected to approve the EU's trade agreement with the United Kingdom on Tuesday.
But four months after its entry into force, the economic consequences are already being felt across the Channel and small British companies are the first to drink.
The European Parliament votes on Tuesday on the post-Brexit trade agreement between the European Union and the United Kingdom, which will be final this time.
Only four months after its provisional entry into force on January 1, and despite the context of the health crisis, initial lessons can already be drawn.
And it just so happens that Brexit is having negative consequences for the UK economy as it results in, among other things, heavy administrative burdens for businesses and higher costs to do business with the EU.
What to discourage small companies, which do not find it any more.
Exchanges made more complicated
The new rules are indeed particularly strict for the agrifood sector, which has been hit hard.
Sales of milk and cream to Europe, for example, fell by 96%, and those of beef and chicken by 80%.
All sectors combined, 50% of exporters have even been in difficulty since January and small businesses are the ones suffering the most.
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Like Willa, who runs a small fine china company, and who has seen sales plummet since the start of the year.
At issue: delivery costs which have doubled and administrative obstacles.
"Sending a package to a European country takes me an hour now, whereas it used to take no more than 10 to 12 minutes. And my orders don't arrive all the time. I have packages sent early january who still haven't left the country. Seems like the carriers are ignoring them and it's impossible to make money under these conditions. I would like to keep some of my good clients but things are going to have to change to make it all right. It is viable. Whatever one thinks of Brexit, it is an emergency ", testifies Willa.
A 1.4% reduction in GDP
For Christian Saint Etienne, economist and professor at the National Conservatory of Arts and Crafts, London indeed hoped to be able to continue to work without difficulty in the European Union ... wrongly. The country is held for the moment in edge. "It sends a very clear signal to the British," he said. "The fundamental strategy that Boris Johnson wanted to follow was to transform the place of London into a Hong Kong of Europe, namely a financial zone which would be whatever happens always less taxed and always less regulated than the rest. of Europe to attract transactions. " But this strategy "is blocked until the Union gives its agreement on the free movement of British financial services", notes the specialist.
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And according to him, many points have not yet been resolved in this divorce between the European Union and the United Kingdom.
Among the other crucial aspects which will for example be raised on Tuesday, the question of the land border in Northern Ireland and that of fishing, the two big points which have long delayed the negotiations.
"These are key topics, just like the issue of trade in goods and services, which have been left out," he explains.
As for the global economy, the coronavirus epidemic masks the extent of the impact of Brexit for the time being. According to the first official estimates, it has already reduced the GDP by 1.4%. Far, therefore, from the disaster announced by some at the time of the referendum. But several experts agree that in the long term, Brexit could be more damaging to the economy than the health crisis.