The new relationship between the United Kingdom and the European Union 1:09
(CNN) ––
As clocks struck midnight for the start of the New Year in Brussels and 11 pm Thursday in London, the UK finally cut its ties with the European Union and ended the Brexit transition period.
Almost a year after his formal departure from the 27-nation bloc.
The end of the transition period is a significant moment in the nation's history.
It came four and a half years after a majority in the UK voted to leave the European Union.
And, after nearly five decades as part of the bloc, the UK will now forge a separate path.
LEE: UK and European Union reach post-brexit trade agreement just days after deadline expires
British Prime Minister Boris Johnson said Thursday that the United Kingdom will be an "open, generous, outward-looking, internationalist and free trade country."
A nation that is "free to do things differently and, if necessary, better" than the European Union, the president added.
“We have our freedom in our hands.
And it's up to us to make the most of it, ”Johnson said during his New Year's speech.
Just a few hours before the end of the transition period.
Divorce has been a long and painful process.
Now there is much uncertainty ahead.
Despite even the post-Brexit trade deal agreed by the UK and the European Union in the last days of the year.
A pact approved by British lawmakers on the eve of the December 31 deadline.
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Opening debate on the bill on Wednesday, Johnson told members of Parliament that the agreement "would open a new chapter."
Also that it would allow the United Kingdom to take "control of our laws and our national destiny."
An image shows UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson signing the UK-European Union Trade and Cooperation Agreement in London on December 30.
“This bill embodies our vision - shared with our European neighbors - of a new relationship between Britain and the European Union as equal sovereigns, united by friendship, trade, history, interests and values, respecting the freedom of action of others and recognizing that we have nothing to fear if we sometimes choose to do things differently, "said Johnson.
But critics warn that the UK economy will suffer as a result of Brexit.
In addition, they highlight that many companies are not prepared for the changes that are coming.
Especially when the nation is reeling under the impact of the coronavirus pandemic.
Now that the UK has left the single market and customs union, goods crossing the border will be subject to customs and other controls.
Delays and disruptions could occur when carriers discover they lack the correct documents or that new software systems collapse under pressure.
Keir Starmer, leader of the main opposition Labor Party, warned on this issue last week.
"There are serious doubts about the government's readiness for the new agreements," Starmer said after the negotiations came to a close.
What will change after the agreement between the UK and the EU?
2:41
The leader told Labor lawmakers to support the bill rather than risk the "devastating" consequences of Britain's exit from the European Union without a trade deal.
But Starmer raised his qualms with what he called the "weak agreement" reached by the Johnson administration.
He said it "does not provide adequate protection for British manufacturing, our financial services, creative industries or labor rights."
Nicola Sturgeon, Scotland's prime minister, said in a tweet - sent when the clock struck 11 pm UK time - that her country "will be back soon, Europe."
Scots overwhelmingly voted to remain in the European Union in the 2016 referendum. Furthermore, Brexit has injected new energy into Scotland's fight for independence.
The trade agreement between the European Union and the United Kingdom did not cover Gibraltar, the British overseas territory that is located at the southern tip of the Iberian Peninsula.
LEE: Brexit: United Kingdom leaves the European Union.
The hardest thing comes now
Just hours before the transition deadline expired on Thursday, Spain and the United Kingdom announced that they had reached a draft of a different agreement on their post-Brexit status.
"Time to leave Brexit behind"
The trade agreement between the United Kingdom and the European Union has already received provisional approval from the bloc.
In addition, the President of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, and the President of the European Council, Charles Michel, formally signed the pact on Wednesday.
"It's been a long road.
It's time to put Brexit behind us, ”von der Leyen said on Twitter, announcing the move.
"Our future is made in Europe."
The European Parliament is expected to review the agreement at a later time before it can be formally ratified by the European Union.
The agreement reached with Brussels establishes a new commercial and security relationship with the UK's largest commercial partner.
Ultimately, it came to fruition after months of stagnation in various areas.
Among them, fishing quotas, how the UK would use state aid to support British businesses after Brexit, and legal oversight of any deals reached.
The agreement preserves Britain's duty and quota free access to bloc consumers.
It also spares the UK some of the most serious potential consequences of Brexit as it battles a pandemic.
UK and European Union reach post-Brexit trade agreement 3:41
While it may have avoided a devastating blow to Britain's ailing economy, the trade deal will still leave the country poorer.
Right at a time when you are facing a job crisis and the worst recession in more than 300 years.
The deal also appears to primarily cover trade in goods, an area in which the UK runs a deficit with its European Union neighbors.
But, it excludes key service industries like finance, where it currently runs a surplus.
Silenced Brexit Celebrations
The front pages of some UK newspapers showed a triumphant note this Thursday, despite the potentially difficult road ahead.
"Britain FINALLY free from the European Union," wrote the
Daily Express
.
Meanwhile, the Times of London declared "Goodbye to all that now that the Brexit trade agreement has been signed."
MIRA: United Kingdom faces a double-dip recession due to the pandemic and Brexit
The newspaper
The
Daily Mail
praised "two giant leaps towards freedom" in a headline referring to a couple of facts.
The first is the signing of the Brexit trade agreement.
And the second, the approval a day before by the UK regulators of the Oxford / AstraZeneca vaccine.
But rising rates of coronavirus infections may end Brexiters' hopes of celebrating the end of the transition period on the streets of Britain.
More than three-quarters of England's population are now under the strongest restrictions in the country.
Measures to limit the spread of a new, more contagious variant of the coronavirus.
The news of this variant led France, along with other nations in Europe, to interrupt travel from the United Kingdom.
As thousands of trucks were stranded in the British port of Dover in the run-up to Christmas, some observers feared it also heralded the potential chaos of a no-deal Brexit.
A man wearing a European Union flag and beret walks in Whitehall in central London on December 11, 2020.
The full impact of Brexit on citizens living in the European Union also remains to be seen.
As well as the citizens of the bloc living in Great Britain.
The 3 Million, a grassroots organization of European Union citizens in the UK, highlighted concerns about those unaware that they must apply for the bloc's Settlement Program at the end of June to protect their rights in the UK.
Gibraltar Agreement
The agreement in principle reached between London and Madrid will avoid a hard border between Gibraltar and Spain.
This was stated this Thursday by the Foreign Minister of Spain Arancha González Laya in a televised press conference.
This was something that many local residents, on both sides of the border, feared when the transition period ended, the official said.
González Laya indicated that an interim period of six months was expected until a new treaty is finalized.
Unlike the rest of the UK, Gibraltar will continue to be a party to the European Union agreements.
Among them, the Schengen area, which will allow the free flow of people and goods across the borders of the members.
"Spain will be ultimately responsible for the application of Schengen in Gibraltar," said González Laya.
UK Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab said his country has a "warm and strong relationship with Spain."
“Today, working side-by-side with the Chief Minister of Gibraltar, and after intensive discussions with the Spanish Government, we reached an agreement on a political framework to form the basis of a separate treaty between the United Kingdom and the European Union regarding Gibraltar.
We will now forward this to the European Commission, in order to start negotiations on the formal treaty, "he said.
“In the meantime, all parties are committed to mitigating the effects of the end of the transition period in Gibraltar.
And, especially, to guarantee border fluidity, which clearly is in the best interests of the people who live on both sides.
Vasco Cotovio, Ivana Kottasová, Jonny Hallam and Niamh Kennedy, all from CNN, contributed to this report.
Gibraltar Great Britain United Kingdom Brexit European Union