As Britain transitions to the dissolution of its European Union (EU) membership, negotiators and British Prime Minister Boris Johnson score a “historic” trade and security agreement, averting the bitter threat of a no-deal exit from the EU’s single market and customs union, says European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen during a media conference on Brexit negotiations held at the EU headquarters in Brussels.
The trade agreement shapes the foundations of the new relationship with its nearest and biggest commercial partners. It appeared on Christmas Eve, following Britain’s first taste of the potential trade chaos as France closed its borders to curb the risk of a new coronavirus strain.
Leaving Brexit Behind on “Surer Footing”
In a press conference, Johnson announced the post-Brexit deal, saying that Britain is now “taking control of [their] laws and destiny.”
The 2000-page deal is the world’s first and largest free-trade pact. It allows hundreds of billions of dollars in goods to continue to flow with zero tariffs and quotas, even after December 31st. It also details provisions for civil and nuclear cooperation, energy interconnections, fishing, and aviation.
Though the deal guarantees free trade on goods worth £668bn, the disadvantages remain. Exporters will now face higher costs on border checks. It doesn’t cover the service industry—which makes about 80% of the UK economy—and the financial services sector. From January 1st, the freedom of movement within the EU will also end for most UK nationals.
Despite the drawbacks, this agreement lowers the cut on the UK’s gross domestic product (GDP) to 0.5% instead of the 1.5% decrease forecasted for a no-deal Brexit. Bloomberg Economics predicts that the UK can expect a 0.5% annual GDP decrease in the next decade. The deal guaranteed a basis for cooperation for both the EU and the UK and offered a way to avoid poisoning relations as critical diplomatic and commercial neighbors for the years to come.
The agreement met some last-minute disputes about the fishermen’s access to British waters. However, the deal settled on EU’s terms of 25%, phased into five and a half years before the deadline.
UK services, on the other hand, remained in limbo with no agreement. According to the UK opposition leader, Keir Starmer, this state makes it a “thin agreement.”
The World Reacts to Post-Brexit Trade
The last stumbling block to the post-Brexit trade agreement settled, despite the oppositions that made it more complicated. Upon the deal’s announcement, heads of states from other EU members couldn’t help but express their two cents regarding the matter.
Irish premier Micheal Martin said that for Ireland, there would never be a “good” Brexit, but this accord at least turned it into the “least bad version of Brexit possible.”
German Chancellor Angela Merkel believed the deal if agreed upon by other EU member states will be a “good outcome” as it now goes over to the EU member states for final review.
For the bogeyman of the British tabloids, French President Emmanuel Macron, the deal is a concrete show of “Europe’s unity and firmness” that paid off.
For Johnson and his Conservative party, this marks the beginning of the country’s challenges as they push forward as an independent nation.
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