Brexit: This is how the bells of Big Ben pulled the UK out of the European Union

Occasionally at 23 in London (20 from Argentina) and at the stroke of midnight in Europe, Big Ben announced with his eleven British shots the exact moment when the United Kingdom has definitively cut its ties with the European Union. This is how the bilateral agreement began to govern posBrexit, which ended 48 years of relationships often marked by tension and disagreement.

“It’s an incredible moment. We have our freedom in our hands and it’s up to us to make the most of it”, said the prime minister Boris Johnson in an end-of-year speech, broadcast a few hours before this historic departure from Europe. Johnson, who took over as Prime Minister in June 2019 to replace Theresa May, exhausted by the ups and downs of Brexit negotiations, a personal victory is won by making this outing the corollary of a controversial standoff.

In addition, the British executive avoided a last-minute shock by realizing this Thursday, December 31 an agreement with the Spanish government to keep the border with Gibraltar open, the small British enclave at the southern tip of the Iberian Peninsula.

From France, the president Emmanuel Macron he also put a note on it positive on a historic day, recalling in its end-of-year message: despite Brexit, “The UK is still our neighbor but also our friend and ally.” However, he clarified again that this separation is due to “a lot of lies and false promises.”

After years of chaos and political clashes, the UK officially left the EU on January 31, putting into practice what the British decided by 52% of the vote in a controversial referendum in June 2016. But , for eleven months, the country was in a “transition period”, which expires today, during which it continued to apply European rules while negotiating its future relations with its 27 former partners.

The Falklands have been excluded from the trade agreement between the European Union and the United Kingdom

The negotiations, which on several occasions seemed doomed to failure, ended up bearing fruit on December 24: London and Brussels have concluded the most comprehensive and comprehensive free trade agreement possible in a record time of ten months.

“When the sun rises tomorrow in 2021 … the UK will be free to do things differently, and if necessary better, than our friends in the EU.” Johnson said in his year-end post.

Due to the pandemic, there have been no celebrations. Just what some consider a discreet nod: Big Ben, the huge bell located in a tower of the British Parliament, under restoration since 2017, which exceptionally came out of its silence to ring the New Year’s Eve chimes, it also rang an hour earlier as part of the tests to verify its mechanism.

“The UK has just become a fully independent country again”UK chief negotiator David Frost tweeted after his European counterpart Michel Barnier told RTL radio: “No one could show me the added value of Brexi“.

Family Brexit for Boris Johnson: his father applied for French nationality

With this historic departure, the charismatic and controversial Johnson wins an important personal victory after taking the reins of this chaotic process in July 2019. His executive even avoided a last-minute shock, concluding on Thursday a deal with the Spanish government to keep the border with Gibraltar open.

This avoided chaos at the British borders, that its ports were blocked by trucks subject to cumbersome customs procedures and that the shortage of products added to the sadness of a third lockdown caused by a strong resurgence of the coronavirus. However, despite the deal, the bureaucracy will increase.

On the French side of the Eurotunnel, which connects the continent to Great Britain via the Channel, new procedures came into effect after 23:00 GMT: alongside the usual security checks, officers began scanning license plates. registration of trucks. to make sure they meet new customs requirements.

In the cold of the night, a truck from Romania was the first to pass the checkpoint in front of journalists. “It’s a privilege for me,” said his driver, Tomas Moise, 62.

AFP / TE / HB