ABOUT US  |  CONTACT US  |  RSS  |  ARCHIVE  |  2024-12-11  |  UPDATED: 1403/06/01 - 19:53:2 FA | AR | PS | EN
Talibans new law bans womens voices and faces             Iranian police shut down two illegal centers affiliated with German government             All of President Pezeshkians ministerial picks win parliaments vote of confidence             Wheres Bangladesh Heading after Popular Uprising?            Western Kabul residents say Taliban has failed to ensure security after bombing             Algerian Boxer Khelif files complaint over online harassment after gender row             Federalism in Afghanistan: Opportunities and Challenges             Formation of the Federalist Assembly of Afghanistan             Israel launches missile attack on outskirts of Damascus, killing Syrian civilians             UK national scandal: 20,000 mental health patients raped, sexually assaulted in NHS care             Three US troops killed, dozens injured in drone attack in Syria             Trump says NATO will not come to rescue if US attacked             Ukraine beset by $40m fraud in arms procurement amid war with Russia            US approves sale of F-16 jets to Turkey after Ankara ratifies Swedens NATO membership             UNSC to meet to discuss ICJ ruling on Israeli genocide in Gaza            


DATE PUBLISHED: 1399/10/12 - 11:54:0
VISIT: 1014
SHARE WITH YOUR FRIENDS

Brexit becomes reality as UK quits EU single market


File photo of Britain and the European Unions flags against a backdrop of the Big Ben in London, UK

Britain on Thursday finally severed its turbulent half-century partnership with Europe, quitting the EU single market and customs union and going its own way four-and-a-half years after its shock vote to leave the bloc.

Brexit, which has dominated politics on both sides of the Channel since 2016, became a reality as Big Ben struck 11:00 pm (2300 GMT) in London, just as most of mainland Europe ushered in 2021.

Prime Minister Boris Johnson -- the figurehead of the "Leave" campaign -- described it as an "amazing moment" for the country and played up his upbeat narrative of a "Global Britain" unshackled from rules set in Brussels.

He vowed that post-Brexit Britain, despite being battered by a surge in coronavirus cases, would be an "open, generous, outward-looking, internationalist and free-trading" country.

"We have our freedom in our hands and it is up to us to make the most of it."

Legally, Britain left the European Union on January 31 but has been in a standstill transition period during fractious talks to secure a free-trade agreement with Brussels, which was finally clinched on Christmas Eve.

Now, the transition is over, EU rules no longer apply. The immediate consequence is an end to the free movement of more than 500 million people between Britain and the 27 EU states.

Customs border checks return for the first time in decades, and despite the free-trade deal, queues and disruption from additional paperwork are expected.

A bit of a headache

Matt Smith, managing director of HSF Logistics, which ships mainly fresh meat and chilled goods between Britain and Europe, said he was sending around 15 truckloads to the EU on New Years Eve ahead of the changes.

The governments new post-Brexit customs systems are largely untested and Smith was doubtful how his business would fare with the new paperwork.

"Were not too sure to be honest, it seems to be a bit of a headache," he told AFP. "Therell be delays along the line at some stage."

Britain is the first member state to leave the EU, which was set up to forge unity after the horrors of World War II.

The 2016 referendum opened up abiding wounds between Leavers and Remainers, and ushered in years of political paralysis before Johnson took power last year, vowing to chart a future for Britain built on scientific innovation and new partnerships across the seas.

A parliamentary debate on Wednesday to ratify the trade deal was marked by elegiac farewells from pro-EU lawmakers, and warnings of disruption as Britain dismantles the intricate network of ties built since it joined the EUs forerunner in 1973.

Fish and finances

While the EU trade deal averted potential business chaos in the immediate future, the divorce will play out in many practical ways.

Changes apply to everything from pet passports, to how long Britons can visit their holiday homes on the continent and an end to British involvement in a student exchange program.

Potential disruption at ports is stoking fears of food and medicine shortages, as well as delays to holidaymakers and business travelers used to seamless travel in the EU.

British fishermen are disgruntled at a compromise to allow continued access for EU boats in British waters.

The key financial services sector also faces an anxious wait to learn on what basis it can keep dealing with Europe, after being largely omitted from the trade agreement.

In a landmark deal sealed just hours before 2300 GMT, the tiny British territory of Gibraltar will become part of Europes passport-free zone to keep movement fluid on its border with Spain.

Northern Irelands border with EU member state Ireland will be closely watched to ensure movement is unrestricted -- a key plank of a 1998 peace deal that ended 30 years of violence over British rule.

And in pro-EU Scotland, where Brexit has given a boost to calls for a new vote on independence, Johnson faces a potential constitutional headache as 2021 dawns.

But opinion polls indicate that most Britons, on both sides of the referendum divide, want to move on and are far more worried about the worsening coronavirus pandemic, which has hit the country harder than most.

Johnson, who himself was among those who was struck down by the virus, warned of tough times ahead because of a resurgence of Covid-19 infections but said a UK-developed vaccine offered grounds for hope.

Be our own bosses

"Its going to be better," said Maureen Martin, from the port of Dover that lies across the Channel from France. "We need to govern ourselves and be our own bosses."

Britain is a financial and diplomatic big-hitter and a major NATO power with a permanent seat on the UN Security Council and in the G7 grouping of the worlds richest economies.

The EU has now lost 66 million people and an economy worth $2.85 trillion, and there is regret that Britain wanted out.

French President Emmanuel Macron said Britain will remain "our friend and ally" but lamented that Brexit was the fruit of "a lot of lies and false promises."

"No one has been able to show me the added value of Brexit," added EU chief negotiator Michel Barnier. "Its a divorce... you cant celebrate a divorce."

Boarding a Eurostar train in Paris as the Brexit hour approached, Francois Graffin, 59, said he was going to pack up his life in London and return to live in France.

"It breaks my heart," he said.

Cant blame the EU

In Britain, Brexit has been the culmination of years of anti-Brussels agitation as the union morphed from a trading community to a more ambitious political project.

However, the 2016 referendum never spelt out what shape Brexit should take.

Johnsons predecessor Theresa May repeatedly failed to drive through a "soft" separation that would have kept Britain largely bound to the EU.

But he drove a much harder bargain, to the profound unease of UK businesses and opposition parties.

Now after months of stormy negotiations that were repeatedly upended by the pandemic, Brussels, too, is keen to move on.

But UK lawmaker Chris Hazzard, from the Irish republican Sinn Fein party, said Brexit was far from over.

"When all the bluster dies down... it will become depressingly clear that this trade deal is... the beginning of a new trading relationship built on permanent negotiation, disputes and recriminations," he warned.

The Daily Telegraph, where Johnson made his name as a Brussels-bashing Europe correspondent, said the government faced a new reality shorn of the EU bogeyman.

(Source: AFP)

LINK: https://www.ansarpress.com/english/21653


TAGS:






*
*

*



SEE ALSO

Israel launches missile attack on outskirts of Damascus, killing Syrian civilians


Ukraine beset by $40m fraud in arms procurement amid war with Russia


US approves sale of F-16 jets to Turkey after Ankara ratifies Swedens NATO membership


UNSC to meet to discuss ICJ ruling on Israeli genocide in Gaza


Gazas major health facility collapses amid Israeli attacks: MSF


Americans to redeploy nuclear weapons in UK amid fears of WW3


Yemen directly hits US warship with ballistic missile


Turkish lawmakers open debate over Swedens NATO membership


Palestinian Islamic Jihad: Al-Maghazi operation proved defeat of Israeli regime in Gaza war


Pakistan Army Kills Seven Terrorists Near Afghan Border





VIEWED
MOST DISCUSSED




POLL

Modi, Merkel Discuss Afghanistan, Radicalisation And Terrorism

SEE RESULT


LAST NEWS

Sudan: The Forgotten War

Talibans new law bans womens voices and faces

Iranian police shut down two illegal centers affiliated with German government

All of President Pezeshkians ministerial picks win parliaments vote of confidence

Wheres Bangladesh Heading after Popular Uprising?

Western Kabul residents say Taliban has failed to ensure security after bombing

Algerian Boxer Khelif files complaint over online harassment after gender row

Federalism in Afghanistan: Opportunities and Challenges

Formation of the Federalist Assembly of Afghanistan

Israel launches missile attack on outskirts of Damascus, killing Syrian civilians

UK national scandal: 20,000 mental health patients raped, sexually assaulted in NHS care

Three US troops killed, dozens injured in drone attack in Syria

Trump says NATO will not come to rescue if US attacked

Ukraine beset by $40m fraud in arms procurement amid war with Russia

US approves sale of F-16 jets to Turkey after Ankara ratifies Swedens NATO membership

UNSC to meet to discuss ICJ ruling on Israeli genocide in Gaza

Taliban: Afghanistan Does Not Have Formal Border With Pakistan

Gazas major health facility collapses amid Israeli attacks: MSF

Americans to redeploy nuclear weapons in UK amid fears of WW3

Biden makes history: 1st sitting US president sued for complicity in genocide

Trump walks out of courtroom during closing arguments of Carrolls attorney

US: 3 dead in shooting at Texas apartment complex

US-UK aggression against Yemen risks expansion of war: Iran

Yemen directly hits US warship with ballistic missile

Hamas has self-reliantly opposed the three giant intelligence agencies of the world!

President Raeisi calls for UN reform, says body unable to end Gaza genocide

Pedram: The Abduction of Hazara and Tajik Women Recalls the Crimes of Abdur Rahman

Special envoys from G7 countries discuss Afghanistan in London meeting

Turkish lawmakers open debate over Swedens NATO membership

UN agency says over half a million Palestinians face catastrophic hunger in Gaza

Palestinian Islamic Jihad: Al-Maghazi operation proved defeat of Israeli regime in Gaza war

European support for Israel damaging energy security on the continent, report says

Pakistan Army Kills Seven Terrorists Near Afghan Border

Israel kills at least 190 people in Khan Younis in 24 hours

UNAMA report: 49 Hazara community members killed in Afghanistan in three months

Indias Modi inaugurates Hindu temple on site of razed mosque ahead of elections

US 2024 election: DeSantis drops out of Republican presidential race, backs Trump

Survivors of Russian charter flight crash transferred to Kabul

Irans anti-terror strikes clear message to certain recipients: Foreign Ministry

Ethnic mass killings in one Sudan city last year left up to 15,000 dead: UN report


MEDICAL NEWS


ANSAR PRESS  |  ABOUT US  |  CONTACT US  |  MOBILE VERSION  |  LINKS  |  DESIGN: Negah Network Co.
All right reserved. Use this website by mentioning the source (link) is allowed. Ԑ یی