Reporter | Sean
The start of 2021 is of extraordinary significance to the UK. This is the first day of Britain's complete departure from the European Union and "regaining freedom".
When Big Ben rings the bell at 11 p.m. (i.e. 0:00 CET on the 1st), the UK officially leaves the EU Common Market and resets customs between the EU and the EU, and the UK-EU trade agreement comes into effect. Reuters pointed out that this is the most significant geopolitical change since the fall of the British Empire.
As much of the UK is under the highest level of lockdown, which prohibits all gatherings, there is no strong sentiment towards Brexit in the UK.
The first Batch of British trucks submitted customs clearance documents to the French Customs, cleared customs at around 23:09 GMT, boarded the high-speed train through the Anglo-French Undersea Tunnel to France, and arrived in France at 24:23.
At 5:55am GMT, the first ferry departing from Holyhead, Wales, arrived at Dublin Harbour with 12 vans on board. All trucks cleared customs without delay.
According to the British "Guardian", there was no chaos in the border area in the first few hours after the end of the transition period. With the UK and EU customs resuming a lot of additional paperwork, there were previous concerns that port congestion would result. Last week, France briefly closed the Anglo-French border for 48 hours due to a new variant of the coronavirus in the UK, leaving thousands of trucks stranded in the port of Dover.
Many truck drivers do not want to be the "first person to pass the customs", so they choose to wait and see. In general, the traffic flow in the early morning of the 1st is not large.
Yann Lerich, chief executive of Getlink, which operates and manages the Anglo-French undersea tunnel, said there could be changes to the customs clearance process but would not cause confusion.
Matt Smith, head of European cold chain logistics company HSF Logistics, said that the new customs system and paperwork after the end of the transition period have not been tested, which is a worrying point and does not rule out the possibility of delays. According to the UK government, more than half of small businesses are not prepared for changes after the transition period ends.
According to the Northern Ireland "back-up plan" reached by the United Kingdom and the European Union, Northern Ireland will remain in the EU single market after the end of the transition period and will be subject to EU tariff rules. In order to avoid a "hard border" between Ireland and Northern Ireland, all customs formalities for goods are completed at ports in northern Ireland, rather than on the island of Ireland, that is, the customs border is moved from Northern Ireland and Ireland to between Northern Ireland and the rest of the United Kingdom.
At present, most of the truck drivers in Northern Ireland are also in a wait-and-see state, and it is impossible to judge the impact of the restoration of customs borders on logistics and transportation.
A few hours before the end of the transition period, the UK and Spain reached a preliminary agreement to bring Gibraltar, a British overseas territory, into the Schengen Area, keeping the border with Spain open and complying with other EU rules, but still belonging to British territory. This means that travellers travelling from the UK to Gibraltar are subject to customs checks. The specific terms of the agreement have not yet been finalized and further negotiations between the European Commission and the UK are needed.
In his New Year's address on the eve of New Year's Eve, British Prime Minister Johnson said it was a remarkable moment when Britain regained its freedom and was able to do things in a better way.
The five-year-long Brexit tug-of-war has finally ended, adding a lot of joy to the New Year for many Britons. Former INDEPENDENCE leader Nigel Farage tweeted a photo of him holding a glass of wine and smiling into the camera, writing: "25 years ago they laughed at me, but now they can't laugh anymore." "He's a staunch Brexiteer politician.
In his New Year's address, French President Emmanuel Macron noted that Britain remains France's neighbour, friend and ally.
But Brexit has brought regret and loss to others. Scottish Government's first minister, Nicola Sturgeon, tweeted that Scotland would rejoin the European Union "soon", accompanied by a photo of Scotland lit up outside the European Commission headquarters building in Brussels, Belgium.
Sturgeon said after the announcement of the UK-EU agreement that no agreement could make up for the losses that Brexit had brought to Scotland, and that "it is time to plan our future as an independent European country". In the 2016 referendum, most Scottish voters chose "Remain".
Irish Foreign Minister Simon Coveney also tweeted that the change in Britain's relationship with the EU is not something to celebrate, but that Ireland will establish a close new relationship with the United Kingdom.
Johnson's father, Stanley Johnson, revealed he was applying for a French passport. He also chose "Remain in Europe" in the referendum.