A fantastic future as predicted by Boris Johnson or a risky leap into the unknown as opponents of the Brexi? After nearly 50 years in the European Union, the UK will open a new solo chapter on January 1, 2021.
What will change in the United Kingdom and the European Union from 1 January?
The United Kingdom officially left the European Union on January 31, 2020, but continued to apply its rules during a transition period that ended Thursday at 11 p.m. London, midnight in mainland Europe. From Friday, the country will be on its own again.
Thanks to the trade agreement reached a week ago by London and Brussels at the end of long and difficult last-minute negotiations, the prospect of tariffs and quotas for goods crossing the border has been lifted. English channel.
But even with a deal, the future is far from perfect. British exporters will have to submit new customs documents to demonstrate that your products are suitable for the European internal market.
London urged companies to prepare, but industries say the government failed to provide IT systems and support staff on time, increasing the risk of chaos.
London’s plan to return to the world stage
The idea of one “Britain”London is trying to revive its bilateral relations with the rest of the world, especially with its “closest and most important ally,” the United States, in Johnson’s words.
But he lost an asset with the defeat of Donald Trump, an avid supporter of the Brexi. And the coronavirus pandemic has hit the UK economy hard and threatens the bright future promised by the conservative prime minister. The idea is that the UK is not closing in on itself, but opening up to the outside to conclude free trade agreements worldwide.
“As global Britain has returned, it is time for manufacturers, men and women with action and innovators to help us write our most exciting chapter yet,” said the Minister for International Trade, Liz Truss, in October, promising future exports of all kinds of British goods, from creams to robots.
In addition to the European Union, the United Kingdom has already signed post-Brexit trade agreements with Japan, Canada, Switzerland, Singapore and several Latin American countries led by Mexico and Chile. And it is negotiating with the United States, Australia and New Zealand, among others.
Agreements in preparation or in progress, including those signed with Brussels, will represent 80 percent of UK foreign trade by 2022, says the government, which External Relations to integrate its generous development aid into the UK’s diplomatic agenda.
What will happen to the UK after Brexit?
Johnson’s big promise in the legislature last December was to “implement Brexit” and then end the growing economic disparities between London’s wealthy financial institutions and the rest of the country, especially the post-industrial areas in London. the North.
But this “upgrade” program through major investments, such as the HS2 high-speed line to operate in the center and north of England, was sidelined because of the pandemic.
However, the government insists that its long-term goals remain and that the money London has contributed to the European budget so far will be better spent on British soil.
Some defenders of Brexit called for a radical overhaul of the economic model to transform the country into a “Singapore on the Thames”, a kind of tax haven with an ultra-regulated financial sector that becomes a powerful rival at the gates of the European Union. But that was prevented by the terms of the trade agreement, with which Brussels took care to avoid unfair competition.
The government ensures that negotiating trade agreements will not adversely affect important issues such as public health or agri-food standards, especially in its negotiations with the United States.
At the national level, the Conservative executive will have to work to reunite the British, divided by a Brexit against which both Scotland and Northern Ireland had voted.
“We left an empty chair at the table in Europe,” but “it will not be empty for long,” threatened the Scottish MEP for independence, Ian Blackford, and demanded a new referendum on self-determination following the 2014 referendum on self-determination. hoping to reintegrate the EU. as an independent state.
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