Brexit happens - 6th January 2021

New Year 2021 in Europe rang in the changes for the EU’s relationship with the UK, which had left the EU at the end of January and finally exited its transition agreement with the bloc.

A slim majority had voted in favour of leaving the EU, coining the term ‘Brexit’, in the UK’s referendum on 23rd June 2016.

There followed lengthy negotiations which frequently stumbled on considerations of free movement and tariff-free trade. The eventual deal, struck deep into extra time, secured cross-border trade in most goods, free from tariffs and quotas.

Nevertheless, policing this agreement from 1st January requires border checks and customs declarations, which have added business costs, although the predicted hold-ups to port traffic were not evident on New Year’s Day.

To a country still riven with divisions over Brexit, the UK Prime Minister, Boris Johnson proclaimed the move heralded “opportunities unknown to modern memory”.

Freedom of movement between Britain and the EU has halted for 500 million people. Britons, many with holiday homes abroad, are only permitted three months’ stay in the EU in any six month period and face additional limits on entering the bloc with pets. Border checks likely mean delays for EU citizens entering Britain.

A last gasp agreement between London and Madrid sees the British territory of Gibraltar absorbed into the EU’s Schengen zone.

The effects of such monumental changes to the lives of many millions will crystallise as businesses return to work and begin to count their impacts.