Correspondent in Brussels
An agreement of unparalleled breadth.
This is the Christmas present that Europe and the United Kingdom have given to their citizens and their respective companies, after nine months of bitter negotiations and one week to the day before the end of the transition period. .
As is often the case when it comes to Brexit, it took endless hours for confirmation that the EU and the United Kingdom had come to an agreement.
The announcement fell on Thursday, shortly before 4 p.m., more than a day after the first rumors of a deal described as "
imminent
" began to circulate.
Read also:
Brexit: the details of the new relationship between the United Kingdom and Europe
"
It was a long and winding road
", admitted at her press conference the President of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, the mine defeated by more than twenty-four hours of discussions.
"
It was useful to fight for this agreement because we now have a fair and balanced agreement with the UK, which will protect our European interests, ensure fair competition and provide essential predictability to our fishing communities
," he said. -she justified.
By his side, EU chief negotiator Michel Barnier, who has so often reiterated that the clock is ticking as the British refuse to truly enter into negotiations, claimed that the clock has now stopped.
"
The protection of our interests has been at the heart of these negotiations and I am delighted that we have succeeded
", welcomed the one who carried with determination and during the last four years the various stages of Brexit, of the withdrawal agreement. concluded in the fall of 2019 to the free trade agreement sealed Thursday.
We took back control of our laws, our fate
Boris Johnson, British Prime Minister
The UK, which will depart from the EU's orbit at midnight on December 31, will not come out of Brexit unscathed, as the first days of January will likely demonstrate when it comes time to implement customs controls on goods on both sides of the borders.
Thanks to this agreement, London will however limit the damage.
Divorce, wanted in the name of recovered sovereignty, will indeed be milder.
And the EU also sees its partner moving away without completely casting off.
Especially at the commercial level.
Good news since WTO tariffs will not apply to goods.
These exchanges represented 668 billion pounds sterling in 2019.
“We have regained control of our laws, of our destiny,”
trumpeted British Prime Minister Boris Johnson on Thursday while being forced to recognize that the United Kingdom will remain the “
Friend
”, “
ally
” and “
first market
” of the European Union.
Very broad economic partnership
But what exactly does this 2000-page text - including annexes - provide and which will take a little time before all the legal subtleties are grasped?
First, “
new economic rules of the game
” which, said Michel Barnier, are
“the mark of a new generation for all free trade agreements
”.
The United Kingdom will be able to access the Union's internal market - without tariffs and without quotas - if it does not diverge from European standards, whether social, fiscal or environmental.
It is moreover the protection of this internal market of 450 million inhabitants, the main wealth of the EU, which allowed the 27 to remain united during these long months of negotiations.
In the event of a discrepancy, there is a mechanism that will allow both parties to quickly activate countermeasures, such as tariffs.
And if it goes too far, renegotiation of the deal would be considered.
Another aspect of this extraordinary “deal” is a very broad economic partnership: air and road transport, energy, the fight against climate change, research and innovation, nuclear safety, space and fishing.
On this flammable subject, the chief negotiator, former French Minister of Fisheries, wanted to be very careful.
“
We have globally ensured a basis of reciprocal access to water and resources with a new distribution of quotas and fishing opportunities
,” he said.
The Europeans are going to surrender to the United Kingdom 25% of the value of fish caught in British waters.
The transition period to get there will be five and a half years.
“The European Union will be present alongside European fishermen to support them.
This is our commitment ”,
promised Michel Barnier when 5 billion euros have been set aside in the Union budget to help the most affected sectors.
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Added to this is a police and judicial partnership as well as the difficult subject of the governance of this agreement on which the Member States will work in the coming days, in order to put in place the mechanisms for monitoring and decisions internal to the EU if the UK came to disregard this deal, as it was tempted to do on the Withdrawal Agreement with its Home Market Bill.
On the other hand, the United Kingdom decided not to participate in Erasmus.
There is no partnership on foreign policy and defense.
The agreement is also not about services and data.
The success of the negotiations is a relief for the Twenty-Seven, who did not fail to react.
Each in their own way.
"European
unity and firmness paid off
», Rejoiced Emmanuel Macron, who has always been in favor of a certain harshness towards the United Kingdom, believing that a country leaving the EU cannot retain the advantages.
Read also:
Brexit: the complex relationship between Paris and London
"
I am very confident in the fact that we have a good result here
," said Chancellor Angela Merkel, still a tone below the French president.
“
With this agreement, we are laying the foundations for a new chapter in our relationship,
” she added.
The UK will continue to be an important partner for Germany and for the European Union outside the European Union
”.
For the Europeans and even more for the Commission, this agreement also sounds like the final step in the concrete departure of the United Kingdom.
There was therefore a little nostalgia Thursday afternoon at the Berlaymont, seat of the Commission.
“
At the end of a successful negotiation, I normally feel joy.
But today I only feel calm satisfaction and frankly relief,
”said Ursula von der Leyen.
“
I know it's a tough day for some and for our friends in the UK.
I mean parting is such a sweet pain but, to quote TS Eliot, what we call the beginning is often the end.
And making an end is often a beginning. ”
Weighted down for five years by this time-consuming and energy-consuming Brexit, the Union can now move forward.
“
I think it's time to put Brexit behind
”, said Von der Leyen.
However, it will be necessary to keep an eye on this partner as close as turbulent as the United Kingdom.
Member States have a few days to validate the Commission's text.
“
It should be done on Tuesday,
” assures a European source while a meeting of EU ambassadors is scheduled for Friday.
After which, if London gives its approval on Wednesday, the agreement will enter into provisional application from January 1.
It will then be ratified by the European Parliament.