After 47 years of a tumultuous marriage, the divorce becomes reality.
The United Kingdom has freed itself from European rules, an “
incredible moment for the country
” according to Prime Minister Boris Johnson, a great architect of Brexit.
In the British capital, the famous Big Ben bell rang at 11 p.m. on Thursday, midnight in France.
The United Kingdom is leaving the European single market and customs union, marking the culmination of Brexit for the country, which officially left the EU on January 31 but benefited from a transitional period to cushion the shock.
Read also: How Boris Johnson Rode the Brexit Tiger
"
We have our freedom in our hands and it is up to us to make the most of it
", welcomed in a message marking the new year the conservative leader, a triumphalism echoed in unison by the conservative tabloids on Thursday.
He assured that the United Kingdom would be "
open, generous, outward-looking, internationalist and practicing free trade
".
But the head of government will now have to gather a divided opinion since the shock of the victory of the "
leave
" in the referendum of June 2016, like the Johnson family whose father Boris, Stanley, says he is "still European" and applied for French nationality.
Scotland's desire for independence is revived.
His ambitions to make the United Kingdom a champion of free trade with a reinforced place in the world risk colliding with the departure of Donald Trump, a convinced Brexiter unlike his successor Joe Biden.
Business circles fear a worsening of the historic crisis hitting the United Kingdom, one of the most bereaved in Europe by the new coronavirus pandemic and currently in the grip of a surge in cases overflowing its hospitals.
"Twinge"
"
It's really sad to leave the European Union,
" Zoe Stewart told AFP, interviewed by AFP in Edinburgh, Scotland.
"
When all this is over, I believe that we must really embark on the process of independence
", she believes, in order to "be
able to make our own choices and not always have to endure those of England
" .
The free trade agreement, without quotas or customs duties, concluded in extremis with Brussels avoids a too abrupt rupture.
But the upheaval is real: Free movement of goods and people alike to cross the border unhindered will end - except between Spain and the British enclave of Gibraltar, under an agreement reached on Thursday.
Read also: Brexit: Spain and the United Kingdom reach an agreement on Gibraltar in extremis
In Paris, François Graffin, 59, has a "
big heartache
", as he arrives in a hurry at Gare du Nord to take the last Eurostar of the year to London: "
I'm going to get my business in London and I am returning to settle in France, for family reasons and also the uncertainty linked to Brexit.
It will be weird
”.
In Dover, in the south-east of England, whose port is at the forefront of trade with the EU, residents are torn between hope for a new era and fear of disruption, such as the recent monster tails of trucks in the area.
Aaron Kinnear, unemployed, has "
hopes that in the end we will be fine
."
But Kirk Hughes, who works in IT, feels "
a little nervous
".
"Added value of Brexit"
Unlike the EU, the UK government has decided to gradually implement customs controls, which will not affect all goods until July.
He does not expect big disruptions in the coming days, although he fears that up to half of exporting SMEs are not ready.
Like a Brexit saga rich in twists and turns, it was not until Christmas Eve to see the laborious negotiations lead to a trade agreement, leaving only a few days to implement its 1,246 pages.
If the British Parliament approved it on Wednesday after a day of express review, MEPs will vote on the text in the first quarter of 2021, the text applying by then on a provisional basis.
To read also: Pascal Lamy: "We find in the Brexit agreement the gaps and the current inadequacies of the EU"
Much to the relief of whole swathes of highly connected economies, the EU is giving the UK duty-free and quota-free access to its market of 450 million consumers.
But it provides, to avoid any unfair competition, sanctions and compensatory measures in the event of non-compliance with its rules on state aid, the environment, labor law and taxation.
Financial companies, a major sector in London, will lose their automatic right to offer their services in the EU, while British fishermen are disappointed that they still have to share a large part of their waters with Europeans.
Despite the success represented by this agreement concluded in record time, the chief negotiator of the European Union Michel Barnier told RTL that he "
felt a certain disappointment, a certain bitterness
": "
No one has never been able to show me the added value of Brexit.
"
People gathered in Brussels, in front of the British Embassy, candles in hand.
JOHANNA GERON / REUTERS