After Brexit: The negotiating poker for a trade agreement begins

The Brexit is over, now it is up to the UK and the EU to draw up a trade agreement. It shouldn't be easy.

• Great Britain has left the EU
• Scotland wants to go back to the EU
• Boris Johnson on a confrontation course

Update from 03.02.2020, 6.17 p.m .: It was a kind of remote duel across the English Channel: On Monday in Brussels, EU negotiator Michel Barnier had hardly given conditions for a future trade pact with Great Britain, Prime Minister Boris Johnson in London already emphasized with a great gesture, which is not possible for Great Britain.

A few days after the Brexit, that was the foretaste of tough months at the negotiating table. In the end, the new relationship between the newly divorced partners will probably not be as close as the economy hopes - if the agreement is reached in time.

Boris Johnson is aiming for a "pragmatic" trade agreement with the EU

In any case, Barnier warned the companies to be prepared for future rumblings in trade relations. Even with a very ambitious free trade agreement, economic relations are not comparable to the common market. There is no "business as usual". Goods controls and customs formalities are inevitable as things stand. These are "the mechanical consequences of the conditions that Great Britain has chosen".

Excerpts of Johnson's speech had previously been made public. There he emphasized that he was striving for a "pragmatic" trade agreement with the EU. It was not necessary for the United Kingdom to adopt EU rules on competition, government subsidies, social protection or the environment, Johnson said.

After Brexit, Boris Johnson takes a tough course against the EU

Update from 03.02.2020, 10.30 a.m .: After the Brexit, British Prime Minister Boris Johnson wants to take a hard line in negotiations with the EU on future relations. In pre-published excerpts from a speech scheduled for Monday, Johnson announced that he wanted to avoid applying the "full range" of EU regulations to Britain.

Johnson emphasized that he was aiming for a "pragmatic" trade agreement with the EU . It is not necessary for the United Kingdom to adopt the EU rules on competition, government subsidies, social protection or the environment, Johnson said in the passages of his speech released by the British government on Sunday.

Britain wants "the highest standards" in these areas and even higher standards than those of the EU, the prime minister emphasizes. But London wanted to uphold these standards "without the obligation of a contract" with the EU. Johnson also announces that if a comprehensive trade agreement with the EU is not achievable, his government plans to conclude a smaller one.

The Brexit in Calais and Dover: The big report from the new border

For its part, the EU Commission wants to adopt its proposal for a mandate for the negotiations with London on Monday. The EU wants Britain to at least partially adapt to the applicable EU rules in order to avoid unequal competitive conditions. EU chief negotiator Michel Barnier told French broadcaster LCI on Sunday that the agreement must include regulations on fishing rights and the movement of goods.

Update from 01.02.2020, 8.30 a.m .: The Brexit has taken place, but Great Britain is not calming down . Scotland's head of government Nicola Sturgeon demanded the independence of her British part of the country again immediately after Brexit. "Scotland will return to the heart of Europe as an independent country," Sturgeon tweeted after Britain left the EU on Saturday night, adding a picture of a European Union flag. But British Prime Minister Boris Johnson rejects a second referendum in Scotland.

Scotland will return to the heart of Europe as an independent country - #LeaveALightOnForScotland pic.twitter.com/Pc2fibYnG4

Around 55 percent of the Scots had spoken out against a secession from the United Kingdom in a first referendum in 2014. Sturgeon argues, however, that circumstances have changed as a result of Brexit. In the British general election in December, Sturgeon's Scottish National Party (SNP) had grown. The party therefore sees itself confirmed in its striving for independence.

Update from January 31, 2020, 7:00 a.m .: Today is the day. More than three and a half years after the Brexit vote, the United Kingdom will leave the European Union on Friday at midnight (CET). The country was a member of the international community and its predecessor organizations for more than 47 years. In a transition phase until the end of the year, London and Brussels still have to clarify their future relationships.

In a speech to be broadcast in the evening, Prime Minister Boris Johnson emphasized, according to excerpts that were published in advance, that Brexit was not an end but a start. "It is a moment of real national renewal and change," said the prime minister. It is now his job to unite and advance the country. People's life chances shouldn't depend on what part of the country you grow up in. That will no longer be accepted.

The head of the Brexit party, Nigel Farage, wants to celebrate the EU exit with his comrades more exuberantly than Johnson. The “Leave means Leave” initiative has planned a party in front of the parliament on Friday evening. Celebrations also take place in other parts of the country. Fireworks were forbidden to Farage. Farage already had a small party when he left the EU Parliament - which was not well received everywhere.

the absolute state of it (literally) pic.twitter.com/w98ysS0ovF

Even if Johnson wants to put Brexit aside, the issue will continue to make headlines in the UK this year. Until December 31, the country remains in a transition phase in which almost nothing changes, except that Great Britain will no longer be represented in Brussels. In the meantime, both sides have to agree on a follow-up agreement, otherwise there are serious consequences for trade and other areas. But the time is considered extremely short and the ideas on both sides are wide apart.

Boris Johnson on Brexit: sovereignty is more important than smooth trade

Update from 30.01.2020, 4.20 p.m .: Brexit is getting closer step by step. On Thursday the 27 remaining EU countries agreed to ratify the withdrawal agreement with Great Britain. In the night of Saturday, the country will leave the European Union for good. But the dispute over Brexit does not end there. London and Brussels still have a difficult road ahead.

Only now can talks about future relationships begin. In an eleven-month period, it will be clarified how things will continue in retail and other fields from 2021. Critics consider the period too short - new conflicts are imminent. "We won't be able to regulate all areas in detail by the end of 2020," warned Federal Foreign Minister Heiko Maas. The risk of a Brexit abyss at the end of the year is not off the table.

The British celebrate - with a narrow program

The historic moment on late Friday evening (11 p.m. UK time, 12 a.m.CET) is only celebrated in London with a narrow program. Prime Minister Boris Johnson said that the Brexit opponents should not be offended. Only a light show, Union Jack flags and a speech by the premier should accompany the historic moment. No fireworks, not even the London landmark Big Ben should ring. It is doubtful whether Johnson can overcome the division of British society. According to recent surveys, 53 percent of the British are still in the EU and 47 percent are leaving.

According to the British media, the prime minister plans to present his negotiating goals for future relationships next week. Sovereignty is more important than smooth trade, he wants to emphasize in his speech, according to "Telegraph" (Thursday). The break between London and Brussels is said to be much clearer than planned under Johnson's predecessor Theresa May. He wants to free his country from the connection to EU rules and largely cut the connections.

The EU Commission, however, calls for the closest possible connection to EU standards. Maas also calls for unfair subsidies and social or environmental dumping. It will depend on how far Britain has access to the internal market. The Commission intends to propose the negotiating line next Monday, which will then have to be approved by the 27 remaining countries. At the end of February or beginning of March, it really goes to the negotiating table. There, both sides have been struggling for the divorce agreement for more than two years after the application to leave in 2017.

Update from 29.01.2020, 07.07 p.m .: The European Parliament approved the divorce agreement with Great Britain two days before the British exit from the EU. The vast majority voted in Brussels on Wednesday evening for the withdrawal agreement.

Brexit: There is a transition period until the end of 2020

In the vote, 621 MPs voted for the withdrawal contract, 49 said no and 13 abstained. Before the UK left the EU on January 31 at midnight (CET), the 27 remaining EU states must also agree to the treaty again. This is also a matter of form.

The most important point in the contract is a planned transition period until the end of the year, in which almost nothing changes in everyday life. Great Britain remains in the EU single market and in the customs union. When traveling and in goods traffic, everything stays the same. In the eleven-month period, it will be clarified how things will continue from 2021.

Brexit: Van der Leyen announces clear line

Von der Leyen announced a clear line for this. "We want to forge a close partnership," said the President of the Commission. The EU offers a unique free trade agreement without tariffs and quotas. But this only applies to fair competitive conditions. "We will certainly not expose our companies to unfair competition," said von der Leyen. Access to the EU internal market will depend on how closely Britain adheres to common standards in the future.

Update from 29.01.2020, 17.55: In Brussels, EU Commission President Ursula von der Leyen finds warm words for Great Britain, which will leave the EU on Friday (31.01.2020). No other free trade agreement grants "such access to our internal market" as the partnership sought with Great Britain after Brexit, said von der Leyen on Wednesday (29.01.2020) in the European Parliament in Brussels. "We will always love you and will never be far away," she added.

Brexit: Friday at midnight is ready

All energy for the upcoming negotiations will be devoted. However, a condition for a close partnership is "that European and British companies continue to compete on fair competitive terms".

Britain leaves the EU on Friday at midnight. The Brexit agreement has already been ratified on the British side. The EU Parliament should give the green light on Wednesday. On Thursday, the remaining 27 EU member states have to agree to the treaty again. But this is a matter of form.

The 176-page withdrawal agreement regulates, among other things, the rights of both sides' citizens and London's financial obligations. It also provides for a transition phase until the end of the year, in which Great Britain will remain in the internal market and the customs union. Both sides want to use the time to draw up a trade agreement.

Brexit: Many Britons apply for German citizenship - a region is particularly in demand

Update from January 28, 2020, 12:49 p.m .: The uncertainty about the UK's exit from the EU has led many British people to apply for German citizenship in 2019. Many have done this in the Rhine-Main area. Of the more than 3,000 British citizens who applied for naturalization in Hesse in the past three years, a large number of the applications were received by the Darmstadt regional council, as hessenschau.de reports. This is also responsible for the Rhine-Main area.

Around 2,600 applications were registered there, at the regional council in Gießen 213 and in Kassel 184. And time is getting short for those who want to have both passports. If there is no agreement between the EU and the UK, only Britons who applied before Brexit can keep their old British passport.

Brexit: "Hard" Brexit not off the table yet

Update from Tuesday, January 28th, 2013, 1:35 pm: German industry still does not see the danger of an unregulated Brexit averted. Although the game of the United Kingdom's exit from the EU is over, there is no reason to relieve it, said chief executive of the Federal Association of German Industry (BDI), Joachim Lang, on Tuesday in Berlin. How the future relationship between the European Union and Great Britain should go is open.

"The risk of a no-deal Brexit, a disorderly departure of the British from the EU, remains high." There is immense uncertainty for companies. They still don't know what to expect in the course of this year.

Update from Tuesday, January 28, 2020, 6.55: The EU chief negotiator for future relations with Great Britain after Brexit sees the upcoming negotiations with London as a "huge challenge". The time for this is "extremely short," said Michel Barnier during a speech at Queen's University in Belfast on Monday evening, adding: "A new clock is ticking."

Great Britain leaves the European Union on 31 January. An agreement on the new relationship must be in place by the end of the year, otherwise there will be significant trade barriers.

In the morning Barnier paid a visit to Irish Prime Minister Leo Varadkar in Dublin. Varadkar sees Brussels as a longer lever in negotiations on future relations with London. "We have a population and market of 450 million people, Britain has around 60 million, if there were two teams playing football against each other, who would have the stronger team?" Said the Irish Prime Minister in a BBC interview.

Update from Thursday, January 23, 2020, 7.40 p.m .: EU Commission President Ursula von der Leyen and Council President Charles Michel sign the agreement with Great Britain on Friday to withdraw from the Community. Queen Elizabeth II signed the Brexit law in London on Thursday, and the Brexit agreement is to be ratified by the European Parliament on January 29.

Great Britain leaves the EU on January 31. According to the withdrawal agreement, a transition phase then begins, during which the British remain part of the EU internal market and the customs union. This gives London and Brussels time to conclude a trade agreement by December 31, preventing a hard cut.

Update from Thursday, January 23, 2020, 6:20 p.m .: The British Queen Elizabeth II approved the ratification law for the Brexit deal on Thursday. This means that the EU exit treaty can now enter into force in Great Britain. After the lower house, the upper house had also approved the bill on Wednesday. The House of Representatives had previously rejected several changes proposed by the Lords.

Boris Johnson: "Shaping a bright, exciting future"

"At times it felt like we would never reach the Brexit finish line, but we did it," said Prime Minister Boris Johnson after the law was passed, adding: "Now we can put an end to the resentment and strife of the past three years let us focus on creating a bright, exciting future. "

In the UK, international treaties must be transposed into national law in order to be valid.

The agreement between EU Council President Charles Michel and Commission President Ursula von der Leyen is due to be signed this Friday. When Johnson would sign his signature was initially unclear.

The European Parliament should ratify the treaty on January 29. On Thursday, the constitutional committee in Brussels already got an overwhelming majority: 23 members of the committee voted in favor, three against. Many MEPs expressed regret for Britain's exit, but stressed that the agreement would at least ensure a regulated separation.

Update from Wednesday, January 22nd, 2020, 7.45pm: After years of controversy, the Brexit law has cleared the last hurdle in the British Parliament. The House of Lords in London waived Wednesday's amendments to Prime Minister Boris Johnson's legislative text after House of Representatives rejected five such requests. Queen Elizabeth II can now enact the law, possibly on Thursday.

The lower house had already given the green light for Brexit at the beginning of January, after which the law moved to the non-elected upper house. House of Lords members voted on Tuesday for several changes to Brexit law. Among other things, it dealt with the rights of EU citizens living in Great Britain who, according to the will of the Lords, were to receive written proof of their right to stay after Brexit.

The lower house rejected the upper house's amendments on Wednesday. The Brexit law threatened to swing back and forth between the two houses a little more than a week before the UK left the EU. The upper house, however, gave in and demanded no further changes.

After the final legislative enactment in Great Britain, the Brexit agreement is to be ratified by the EU Parliament on January 29th. Brexit is scheduled for January 31.

Brexit: politician calls on EU not to "punish British fish for their keeping"

Update from Wednesday, January 22nd, 2020, 2:05 pm: Sometimes it just takes a while for the penny to fall. This obviously also applies to some Brexiteers. Because now, a few days before leaving the European Union, it is beginning to dawn on the realization that Brexit may be causing some problems.

How else can it be explained that a politician from Nigel Farage's Brexit party is now starting to seriously worry about the future of her home country in a tweet. In any case, after the penultimate session of the European Parliament's Fisheries Committee, which included MEPs from Britain, June Mummery had some deep thoughts: “The big question now is who will be here to hold these people accountable while they are still there control British waters but the UK is no longer represented in Parliament? "

Mummery herself left her question unanswered, but the reactions were largely clear. While Labor Europe MP Seb Dance left it with a short "Um ...", TV presenter Emma Kennedy pointed out the obvious: "This is literally what you voted for." Annette Dittert, UK correspondent for ARD even spoke of a “tweet of the century”.

THIS IS LITERALLY WHAT YOU VOTED FOR

But Mummery later put it back in and published a video in which she explained her position again in detail. Among other things, she said that she considered it extremely important to have some form of supervision to ensure that British fish would not be punished by the EU for their Brexit stance.

I can't believe that after supporting #UKfisheries and #coastalcommunities, @BorisJohnson will abandon them to unchecked #EU control for 11 months. With less than two weeks to go before #Brexit, it is paramount we have an oversight mechanism on EU fisheries policy. pic.twitter.com/FG1SR8NKyJ

Of course, their comments caused some amusement - even among their party colleagues. In any case, David Coburn, the former MEP of the Brexit Party, knows nothing about fish adopting a Brexit stance. But today everything is possible.

Brexit: Fear is growing among EU foreigners in Great Britain

First message

London - The long road will soon be over. More than three years ago, the majority of the British decided to leave the European Union. There are now only a few days left before enforcement can be reported: On January 31, 2020 at midnight CET, the United Kingdom will say goodbye to Europe.

Brexit: EU foreigners in Great Britain are unsettled

But it is not just the British who are affected by the Brexit . Above all, the EU foreigners who live on the island do not really know what will happen to them - even though they have already been given a right of residence for the United Kingdom. "They don't feel welcome and are afraid for their future," said Tanja Bueltmann from Northumbria University at the presentation of a study in London. "There is an erosion of trust and security," said the German-born.

More than 3000 EU foreigners living in Great Britain were interviewed for the study. Around 71 percent of them had already applied to stay in the country despite Britain's exit from the EU. Almost 88 percent of them can stay permanently and about 12 percent temporarily. However, almost all of the study participants stated that they still felt scared or undesirable. “My husband has worked in the British Army for 30 years. It is a shame that I have to make the application, ”Bueltmann quoted the answer from a study participant.

House of Lords proposes changes to the Brexit law

After all, the British House of Lords inflicted Prime Minister Boris Johnson on the issue. When voting on the ratification law for the Brexit agreement, the lords voted, among other things, for EU foreigners and Swiss nationals to be able to prove their residence status in Great Britain with a document.

There's a moment - first defeat for Johnson's govt - in the Lords over giving EU citizens physical documents to prove they have the right to live here after Brexit

The resistance of the upper house is rather symbolic. Johnson is on the longer lever with his Conservative Party, which has had a comfortable majority in the lower house since the new election in December. A ping-pong game between the lower and upper house would at best lead to slight delays.

The bill had been passed unchanged by the lower house. On 29 January, the European Parliament still has to approve the ratification law for the Brexit deal.

Brexit: musician Sting speaks of an "act of madness"

Not everyone is excited about Brexit. The British musician Sting is one of the celebrities who are completely opposed to Brexit . In an interview with Rolling Stone magazine, he called Brexit an "act of madness" based on the myth that a solitary England would be strong - as it was in the 17th century.

"Why do we cut ourselves off from a marketplace right outside our door, the European Union marketplace? I haven't heard a single convincing argument for Brexit so far. Our politicians are simply looking forward to getting their blue passports back. ”The 68-year-old can't even sing about the Brexit:“ It's difficult to find a metaphor for the absurdity called Brexit. At least I couldn't. That would be beyond my strength. "

The Brexit

On June 23, 2016, the British voted for Brexit in a referendum. 51.89 percent of the participants voted for the United Kingdom's exit from the European Union. Article 50 of the EU Treaty regulates the individual steps of an exit from the EU.

The then Prime Minister Theresa May then legally initiated the exit process on March 29, 2017 by writing to the European Council. Since no specific agreement was reached on the departure date, this would have fallen to March 29, 2019 after the two-year negotiations ended. This date was postponed three times later, most recently to January 31, 2020 at the latest.

What does the word "Brexit" mean?

Brexit is a so-called suitcase word, which is composed of the two terms "Britain" and "Exit". Based on this word, Brexit supporters are mostly referred to as "Brexiteers".

Why do the British want a Brexit?

Historian Felix Klos * sees several reasons: “First of all, there is the distribution of wealth. In Britain the rich get richer and the poor get poorer. There is not much in between. The people are obviously so angry that they run after charlatans who tell them that everyone will be better after Brexit. This leads to absurd behavior. In Cornwall, one of the poorest regions in Britain, people rely on the money from the EU. Nevertheless, they voted for Brexit with more than 70 percent. In addition: For decades, politicians and many media in Great Britain have held Brussels responsible for everything that did not work in their own country. As we know today, this has had an effect. "

cs / dpa

* fr.de is part of the nationwide Ippen-Digital editors network

Rubric list picture: © Boris Johnson is happy. The Brexit law is enacted.