The Brexit negotiations seemed to be heading for failure in the past few weeks.
But the historic moment could come on the day before New Year's Eve.
Shortly before the end of the transition phase on December 31, it is done: A
deal
between Great Britain and the EU.
(see first report)
Boris Johnson
was obviously relieved.
The pictures speak for themselves.
(see update from December 24th, 5:23 p.m.)
Brexit * means
a serious turning point
for young Europeans too
.
(see update from December 29th, 2:07 p.m.)
This
news ticker
is continuously updated.
Update from December 29, 7:53 p.m.:
The dispute over the Brexit trade pact could officially end on Wednesday: EU Commission chief
Ursula von der Leyen
and
Council President Charles Michel
will
sign the
post-Brexit trade agreement
agreed with Great Britain
on Wednesday at 9:30 a.m. sign.
Shortly afterwards, the British Parliament meets in London to debate the agreement.
Its consent is considered certain.
Afterwards, the
British Prime Minister Boris Johnson is to put
his signature on the more than 1200-page agreement.
In order for all of this to work out, Great Britain is resorting to an unusual means.
In a
British Air Force
(RAF)
jet
, the Brexit trade pact will cross the English Channel to get from Brussels to London in time.
On this basis, the
agreement can
be
applied provisionally from January 1st
, even if the
EU Parliament has not yet given
its
approval
.
After a long struggle, both sides agreed on the contract on December 24th.
There is no longer enough time until the end of the year for a regular ratification process.
Therefore, the agreed rules are to be applied temporarily until at least February 28th.
Brexit and the consequences: Erasmus exchange with Great Britain before the end - Johnson promises new program
Update from December 29th, 2:07 p.m
.: The
Erasmus program is
intended to support students from the
European Union
.
The funding program enables young EU citizens to study abroad at other universities.
The
post-Brexit agreement
that has now
come about,
however, now ensures the
Erasmus
in
Great Britain
.
Students from the
UK
are among the victims of the Brexit deal - but there is hope.
Great Britain
, which was the third most popular destination for Erasmus participants after Spain and Germany, is allowed to participate in the EU funding program until 2023.
Until then, the partnerships with the relevant universities apply.
However, the new visa regulations that came into force on January 1st could be problematic.
Students still do not need a visa for stays of up to six months, but they also do not receive a work permit.
Prime Minister
Boris Johnson
, who
justified
the
Erasmus-Aus
with too high costs, meanwhile wants to create a new program for students.
The
Turing program
(named after the British mathematician Alan Turing) aims to enable 35,000 British students to study "at the best universities in the world and not just in Europe" every year.
Brexit agreement: deadline for EU Council decision ends
Update of 28 December, 19:43
: On Tuesday at 15 o'clock, the deadline for the formal EU Council decision ends the
United Kingdom and Gibraltar European Union membership referendum agreement
.
That said the spokesman for the German
EU Council Presidency
on Monday.
Until then, the agreement is to be approved so that it can also be applied provisionally from January 1st.
Commission President Ursula von der Leyen
and
EU Council President Charles Michel
want to give a video press conference on Tuesday evening or Wednesday. The
British Parliament will vote
on the agreement on
Wednesday
.
But this time an approval is considered certain.
Brexit agreement: 27 ambassadors from the EU member states tentatively approve the project
Update from December 28, 12.20 p.m.:
After the final agreement between the European Union and Great Britain, the EU initiated the provisional application of the treaty from January 1 on Monday.
The 27 ambassadors of the member states provisionally approved the project.
As a spokesman for the German Council Presidency announced on Twitter, a decision was made in writing.
‼ ️Green light for #BrexitDeal: EU Ambassadors have unanimously approved the provisional application of the EU-UK Trade and Cooperation Agreement as of January 1, 2021.
👉 Next step: Final adoption by use of written procedure.
Deadline: Tomorrow, 15.00 hours.
#TCA #COREPER 🇪🇺🇬🇧 pic.twitter.com/k76Iei9xm0
- Sebastian Fischer (@SFischer_EU) December 28, 2020
The provisional application
without parliament
is necessary because the time is too short to determine the project before the end of the year in the European Parliament.
This should be made up for after January 1st.
The transition phase since Great Britain left the EU expires on December 31.
This means that the country is leaving the internal market and the customs union.
The contract is intended to
prevent
a
hard economic break
.
The British Parliament is due to vote on December 30th.
Brexit deal: Federal cabinet appreciates the agreement
Update from December 28th, 12 noon:
The Federal Cabinet has
endorsed
the
Brexit agreement
between the EU and Great Britain.
The members of the cabinet agreed in their "positive appreciation" of the agreement, said the deputy government spokeswoman Ulrike Demmer on Monday in Berlin.
Germany could agree to the agreement.
Update from December 26th, 1:04 pm:
1255 pages: Great Britain and the EU have their laboriously negotiated
trading
package
published for the time after the
Brexit
transition phase.
The contract is intended to regulate issues relating to trade, cooperation between the police and the judiciary and health insurance coverage for travelers in emergencies.
Brexit deal: consequences for companies
Update from December 26th, 10:03 am:
The news of the
trade agreement
between Great Britain and the EU made the rounds on Christmas Eve.
But what exactly does it say?
We are still
waiting
impatiently for
details
from the agreement.
So far, both sides have only published summaries, the more than 1200-page text of the contract is still pending.
But
the details are
especially important for
companies
.
"Companies will immediately study the details as soon as they can," said Tony Danker, director general of the British business association CBI (Confederation of British Industry), according to dpa after the breakthrough was announced.
Brexit: Great Britain withdraws from the European Erasmus program - reason: "extremely expensive"
Update from December 25th, 4.40 p.m.:
Despite the Christmas trade agreement:
Brexit
means painful cuts for some people.
It is now clear that this group will include many young
students in Europe
.
After more than 30 years, Great Britain is withdrawing from the
European Erasmus program
for students
as part of the post-Brexit agreement
.
It was a "difficult decision", said British
Prime Minister Boris Johnson
on Thursday after the agreement on a
trade agreement between London and Brussels
.
The program was "extremely expensive" for his country, Johnson justified the move.
The prime minister also announced a replacement program.
He wanted to enable British students to study at the “best universities” in the world and not just in Europe.
For the almost
150,000 students from EU countries
currently
enrolled at British universities, studying
abroad at universities in the United Kingdom is likely to become more expensive and more difficult.
Brexit: trade pact is in place, big tasks are waiting - meeting on Monday?
Update from December 25th, 3:33 p.m.:
The Brexit trade pact has been found in principle after a long hanging game - but the
27 member states
still have to approve the negotiation result.
The German spokesman spoke of a "huge task".
Even the actual
trade agreement
is 1246 pages long.
There are also other agreements, a total of 1298 pages of contract text.
These must now be checked in the 27 member states.
According to information from the
AFP
news
agency
, a meeting of the
EU ambassadors is
planned on Monday.
If all goes well there, the ambassadors will initiate a written procedure that would pave the way for the signing and provisional application of the agreement.
The provisional application was "an extraordinary step," said the spokesman for the German
EU Presidency
.
The aim is to prevent "a significant disruption of relations between the
EU
and
Great Britain
with serious consequences for citizens and businesses" after the end of the transition period on January 1st.
The
approval process has also been initiated
in
Great Britain
.
To this end, Parliament is to be called to an extraordinary session on December 30th.
The
Labor Party
has already announced that it will vote for the agreement.
This would mean that deviants in the conservative government camp would not prevent approval.
The pre-Christmas peace spurred conversations between the 🇪🇺 and 🇬🇧.
It is very good news that both sides have finally agreed on a regulated Brexit.
Late, but not too late.
That's good for 🇩🇪, for 🇪🇺and🇬🇧.
And: We'll stay friends, dear Brits.
pic.twitter.com/DaxAAmTKsO
- Olaf Scholz (@OlafScholz) December 24, 2020
Brexit deal at Christmas: EU member states agree on trade deals
Update from December 25th, 12 noon:
The
EU member states
have started examining the
Brexit trade agreement
with Great Britain.
EU negotiator
Michel Barnier briefed
the ambassadors of the 27 member states on Friday morning in Brussels about the outcome of the negotiations, as a spokesman for the German EU presidency announced on Twitter.
Accordingly, the contract text is 1246 pages long.
The spokesman called it a "daunting task" to review the deal in the coming days.
On the EU side, the governments of all
27 member states
still have to approve the outcome of the negotiations, while in
Great Britain
the parliament has to agree.
The aim is for the agreement to come into force on January 1st.
The ratification by the
European Parliament
is to take place in retrospect at the beginning of 2021.
Update from December 24th, 6.48pm:
"European unity and stability have paid off": France's head of state
Emmanuel Macron
has also
welcomed
the agreement on the
Brexit trade pact
between the EU and Great Britain.
France often followed a hardline line in the Brexit tussle.
“The deal with the UK is important to protect our citizens, our fishermen and our producers,”
Macron
continued.
One will now convince oneself whether this is really the case.
"Europe is making progress and can look forward to a united, independent and strong future," said Macron.
Christmas miracles!
Brexit deal stands - Merkel and Johnson react
Update from December 24th, 5:23 pm:
"I think this is a good deal for all of Europe," said
Boris Johnson
about the final Brexit deal.
“We will be your friend, your partner, your supporter, and let's not forget your number one market.” Chancellor Merkel and Ursula von der Leyen reacted in a similar way.
From the point of view of the Johnson administration,
everything
that the British public wanted with the 2016 Brexit referendum
has been achieved
with the agreement
.
"We have regained control of our money, our borders, our laws, our trade and our fishing grounds," said the government.
At the same time, the agreement grants
duty-free
and
unlimited exports
to the EU.
Boris Johnson showed on Twitter that he is very happy about the deal.
He posted a photo of himself holding both thumbs in the air.
"The deal is done,"
he wrote.
The deal is done.
pic.twitter.com/zzhvxOSeWz
- Boris Johnson (@BorisJohnson) December 24, 2020
Update from December 24, 4:34 p.m
.: Chancellor
Angela Merkel
* has recognized the Brexit agreement
(see first report)
as
historical
.
"With the agreement we are creating the basis for a new chapter in our relations," said the
CDU *
politician
.
"Great Britain will continue to be an important partner for Germany and for the European Union outside the European Union." The agreement was "of historical importance".
Christmas miracles!
Brexit deal stands after agreement on the last crucial point - Merkel reacts
Merkel agreed to check the text quickly.
The federal cabinet will come to an agreement on the German position by telephone next Monday.
"I am very confident that we have a good result here," said the Chancellor.
All member states and the EU Parliament must agree to the agreement.
Chancellor #Merkel on the agreement between the #EU and Great Britain: “The agreement is of historic importance.
With the agreement we are creating the basis for a new chapter in our relationships. ”#BrexitDeal https://t.co/GcgbxIPhLY pic.twitter.com/fgCu98LQlx
- Ulrike Demmer (@UlrikeDemmer) December 24, 2020
Christmas miracles!
Brexit deal stands - agreement with EU on the last crucial point
Our initial report on December 24th
: London -
A tough economic break appears to have been averted
with
Brexit
: After months of debates on a
trade pact
, the
EU
and
Great Britain
have reached an agreement.
Both sides confirmed this on Thursday afternoon.
EU Commission chief
Ursula von der Leyen
and negotiator
Michel Barnier
announced a
press conference
.
The trade agreement is intended to
regulate
economic relations between the island and the continent from
January 2021
.
The most important point is
to avoid
tariffs
and ensure the smoothest possible trade.
The contract also includes
fishing
and cooperation on energy, transport, justice, police and many other topics.
Brexit agreement with the Johnson government: negotiations were on the verge of failure
A very last
sticking point
that had been heatedly debated for weeks: the access of
EU fishermen
to
British waters
.
The clarification of the last details dragged on for
many hours
until Thursday noon.
Finally, a compromise was found here too.
The negotiations should actually have been concluded in October.
Several times they were on the verge of failure.
The agreement promises Great Britain exports to the EU internal market without tariffs and without volume restrictions.
For this, however, the EU demands fair competitive conditions - the so-called
level playing field
.
What is meant are the same environmental, social and subsidy standards.
+
Britain's Prime Minister Boris Johnson at the Brexit PC on December 21 - negotiations dragged on.
© Tolga Akmen / various sources / AFP
Great Britain in Brexit negotiations - Corona mutation exacerbates the situation
The worsening
corona pandemic *
in Great Britain
had recently
built up further pressure.
After a mutated variant of
Sars-CoV-2 was
discovered, France temporarily closed its borders to
traffic
from Great Britain.
That is why thousands of trucks were jammed on the British side - from the point of view of critics a foretaste of the situation in a
no-deal Brexit
.
The British voters in 2016 voted with a narrow majority in favor of leaving the EU.
Prime Minister Boris Johnson
won the parliamentary elections in 2019, among other things with the announcement that Brexit will actually be carried out.
As a central point, he repeatedly mentioned regaining sovereignty and control over one's own borders and laws.
(dpa / frs)
* Merkur.de is part of the Ippen-Digital editorial network.
List of rubric lists: © Paul Grover / Daily Telegraph / PA Wire / dpa
