LONDON (AP) – A stationary truck rolled off both sides of the English Channel on ferries and trains on Friday, a quiet New Year’s day after a seismic overnight shift in relations between the European Union and Britain.
The busy goods route between south-east England and north-west France is at the forefront of change now that the UK has completely abandoned the economic embrace of the bloc of 27 countries, the last phase of Brexit.
“For most trucks, they will not even notice the difference,” said John Keefe, spokesman for Eurotunnel, which transports vehicles under the Channel. “There was always the risk that we would run into problems if it happened at a busy time, but it happens overnight on a bank holiday and a long weekend.”
Britain left the large single market for people, goods and services around 23:00 London time, midnight in Brussels, of the European bloc in the biggest single economic change the country has experienced since World War II. A new trade agreement between the UK and the EU will bring new restrictions and red tape, but for British supporters of Brexit, it means regaining national independence from the EU and its web of rules.
Prime Minister Boris Johnson, whose support for Brexit helped the country out of the EU, calls it “a wonderful moment for this country”.
“We have our freedom in our hands, and it is up to us to make the most of it,” he said in a New Year’s video message.
The historic moment passed quietly, with the UK’s shutdown measures against the coronavirus curtailing mass gatherings to celebrate or mourn. Brexit, which has dominated public debate in Britain for years, has even been pushed off the front pages of the newspaper by the news of the huge vaccination effort against COVID-19.
In the muted streets of London – which voted strongly to stay in the EU during Britain’s 2016 referendum – there was little enthusiasm for Brexit.
“I think it’s a disaster, among many disasters this year,” said Matt Steel, a medical doctor. “It’s a bad deal. I really do not see positive aspects in it. ”
The break comes 11 months after a political Brexit that left the two parties in a ‘transition period’ in which EU rights and rules still applied to Britain.
The trade agreement concluded on Christmas Eve after months of strained negotiations ensures that the two parties can continue to buy and sell goods without tariffs or quotas. But companies face new costs and paperwork, including customs declarations and border controls.
The English Channel Port of Dover and the Eurotunnel caused delays as the new measures were introduced.
The vital route was blocked for days after France closed its border to British truck drivers last week in response to a rapidly spreading variant of the virus identified in England.
The pandemic and a holiday weekend meant that traffic across the Channel was low on Friday. Britain has also delayed the introduction of full customs controls for several months so that businesses can adapt.
The British government has insisted that ‘the border systems and infrastructure we need are in place, and that we are ready for the UK’s new start.’
New checks were also all over the Irish Sea. A dozen trucks drove off the first ferry that arrived from Wales in Dublin before the arrival of Wales, clearing the new customs inspections without delay.
“We have avoided the kind of dramatic disruption of a Brexit without a trade agreement, but that does not mean that things are not changing very fundamentally, because it is,” said Secretary of State Simon Coveney.
“We are now going to see the 80 billion euro ($ 97 billion) trade across the Irish Sea between Britain and Ireland disrupted by many more checks and declarations, and bureaucracy and paperwork, and costs and delays.”
Hundreds of millions of individuals in Britain and the group are also experiencing changes in their daily lives, with new rules for work visas, travel insurance and paperwork for pets.
And months and years of discussion and argument lie ahead, above all, from fair competition to fish quotas, as Britain and the EU come into their new relationship as friends, neighbors and opponents.
Brexit could also have major constitutional consequences for the UK. Northern Ireland, which shares a border with Ireland from the EU, remains more closely linked to the bloc’s economy under the terms of the divorce. Although goods will continue to flow freely across the Irish land border, there will be new procedures for trade between Northern Ireland and the rest of the United Kingdom. In the long run, Northern Ireland could move away from the rest of the UK to its southern neighbor.
In Scotland, which voted strongly to stay in 2016, Brexit strengthened support for separation from the UK. The country’s first independent minister Nicola Sturgeon tweeted: ‘Scotland will be back soon, Europe. Keep the light on. ”
European leaders, whose patience with Britain fell short in the years of Brexit melodrama, lament the UK’s departure and anger over the forces that drove it.
“The United Kingdom remains our neighbor, but also our friend and ally,” French President Emmanuel Macron told the country in his New Year’s speech. “This choice to leave Europe, this Brexit, was the child of the European ill and many lies and false promises.”
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Jo Kearney in Folkestone, England, contributed to this story.
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