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Associated Press

First came the Brexit trade deal. Now comes the red tape and the institutional nitty-gritty.
Just days after sealing a free-trade agreement with the European Union, the British government warned businesses Monday to get ready for disruptions and “bumpy moments” when the new rules take effect on Thursday night.
Firms are scrambling to digest the details and implications of the 1,240-page deal sealed by the EU and the UK on Christmas Eve, just a week before the year-end deadline.
Ambassadors from the 27 EU nations, meanwhile, gave their unanimous approval to the deal on Monday.
“Green light,” said German spokesman Sebastian Fischer, whose country currently holds the EU presidency.
The approval had been expected, since all EU leaders have warmly welcomed the deal, which is designed to put post-Brexit relations between the bloc and former member Britain on reliable footing.
The agreement has not, however, eliminated the mistrust that festered between Britain and its neighbours during months of fractious negotiations
The French presidency said that France would remain “from the very first day very vigilant” about the implementation of the deal, especially to protect French companies and fisheries “in case the UK disregards its commitments”.
Rare win for Boris Johnson – but Brexit storm hasn’t passed
The agreement needs approval from Britain’s Parliament, which is scheduled to vote on it Wednesday, and from the EU’s legislature, which is not expected to take up the deal for weeks. The leaders of the European Parliament’s political groups said they would not seek full approval until March because of the specific and far-reaching implications of the agreement. The overwhelming expectation is that EU lawmakers will approve the deal.
The UK left the EU almost a year ago, but remained within the bloc’s economic embrace during a transition period that ends at midnight Brussels time – 11pm in London – on December 31.
The agreement, hammered out after more than nine months of tense negotiations, will ensure Britain and the 27-nation bloc can continue to trade in goods without tariffs or quotas. That should help protect the £660 billion (US$894 billion) in annual trade between the two sides, and the hundreds of thousands of jobs that rely on it.

But the end to Britain’s membership in the EU’s vast single market and customs union will still bring inconvenience and new expense for both individuals and businesses – from the need for tourists to have travel insurance to the millions of new customs declarations that firms will have to fill out.
“I’m sure there will be bumpy moments but we are there in order to try to do everything we can to smooth the path,” Michael Gove, the British Cabinet minister in charge of Brexit preparations, told the BBC.
Brexit deal done: what’s next for ‘Global Britain’?
British Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s Conservative government argues that any short-term disruption from Brexit will be worth it, because the UK will now be free to set its own rules and strike new trade deals around the world.
Yet an ominous preview of what could happen if UK-EU trade faces heavy restrictions came this month when France briefly closed its border with Britain because of a highly transmissible new variant of the coronavirus sweeping through London and southern England. Thousands of trucks were stuck in traffic jams or parked at a disused airfield near the English Channel port of Dover for days and supermarkets warned that some goods, including fresh produce would soon run short.
Even after France relented and agreed to let in truckers who tested negative for the virus, the backlog of 15,000 drivers who now needed tests took days to clear.

Despite the deal, uncertainty hangs over huge chunks of the relationship between Britain and the EU. The agreement covers trade in goods, but leaves the UK’s huge financial services sector in limbo, still uncertain how easily it can do business with the bloc after January 1. The British territory of Gibraltar, which sees thousands of workers cross over daily from Spain, is also in limbo since it was not included in the deal.
“This is not a final done deal in many respects,” said Jill Rutter of the UK in a Changing Europe think tank, noting that big decisions in many areas are yet to come.
British fishermen say PM Boris Johnson sold out sector in Brexit trade deal
And the deal has angered one sector that the UK government vowed to protect: fishing. The economically minor but hugely symbolic issue of fishing rights was a sticking point in negotiations, with maritime EU nations seeking to retain access to UK waters, and Britain insisting it must control its seas.
Under the deal, the EU will give up a quarter of the quota it catches in UK waters, far less than the 80 per cent Britain initially demanded. The system will be phased in over 5 1/2 years, after which the quotas will be reassessed.
“I am angry, disappointed and betrayed,” said Andrew Locker, chairman of Britain’s National Federation of Fishermen’s Organisations. “Boris Johnson promised us the rights to all the fish that swim in our exclusive economic zone and we have got a fraction of that.”


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Brexit

Brexit: UK warns of ‘bumpy’ transition, despite trade deal with EU

Freight lorries queue to enter the port of Dover on the south coast of England. File photo: AFP

FILE - In this Thursday, Oct. 17, 2019 file photo, an eerial view of Gibraltar rock seen from the neighbouring Spanish city of La Linea, during a general election in Gibraltar. (AP Photo/Javier Fergo, File)

Under the deal, the EU will give up a quarter of the quota it catches in UK waters. Photo: AFP

Rare win for Boris Johnson - but Brexit storm hasn’t passed

The Brexit deal gives Boris Johnson a much-needed political boost, but its future reality may not be so rosy. Photo: AFP

(FILES) In this file photo taken on June 24, 2016 Former London Mayor and "Vote Leave" campaigner Boris Johnson attends a press conference in central London. - Britain said on Thursday, December 24, 2020 an agreement had been secured on the country's future relationship with the European Union, after last-gasp talks just days before a cliff-edge deadline. (Photo by Mary Turner / POOL / AFP)

(FILES) In this file photo taken on December 10, 2019 Britain's Prime Minister and Conservative party leader Boris Johnson drives a Union flag-themed JCB, with the words "Get Brexit Done" inside the digger bucket, through a fake wall emblazoned with the word "GRIDLOCK", during a general election campaign event at JCB construction company in Uttoxeter. - According to a British government source a 'deal is done' on post-Brexit trade. (Photo by Ben STANSALL / AFP)

Brexit deal done: what’s next for ‘Global Britain’?

A mural by British artist Banksy depicts a workman chipping away at one of the stars on a European Union (EU) themed flag. File photo: AFP

epa08893282 Freight trucks queue up at Dover Port in Dover, Britain, 19 December 2020. Britain and the EU continue to negotiate a post-Brexit trade deal as the current Brexit transition period will end on 31 December. EPA-EFE/ANDY RAIN

Prime Minister Boris Johnson and European Commission president Ursula von der Leyen meet for a dinner during they will try to reach a breakthrough on a post-Brexit trade deal on Dec. 9, 2020 in Brussels, Belgium. (Aaron Chown/WPA Pool/Getty Images/TNS)

After months of fraught negotiations, Britons welcomed Thursday’s ‘Christmas present’ Brexit deal with relief and some scepticism. Photo: AFP

British fishermen say PM Boris Johnson sold out sector in Brexit trade deal

A crew member sorts fish on board a trawler in the English Channel, off the south coast of Newhaven, East Sussex. Photo: EPA-EFE

(FILES) In this file photo taken on October 12, 2020 Newhaven fishing boat skipper Neil Whitney (R) and deckhand Nathan Harman (L) sort fish aboard the Newhaven fishing boat 'About Time' after the first trawl of the day, off the south-east coast of England. - According to a British government source a 'deal is done' on post-Brexit trade. (Photo by GLYN KIRK / AFP)

(FILES) In this file photo taken on September 28, 2020 Seamen working on the French trawler "Le Marmouset III" empty the fish caught in the English Channel from the trawling net, especially cuttlefish destined for the Spanish market. - The scramble for a post-Brexit trade deal headed into a new week on December 20, 2020 after talks were overshadowed by the coronavirus crisis and broke up with no breakthrough on fishing rights. Britain intends to assume control over its waters on January 1, but is ready to allow continued access to EU fishing fleets for a transitional period under new terms. EU fishermen fear that losing any access to the rich UK fishing waters will threaten their livelihoods. (Photo by Nicolas GUBERT / AFP)

News

World

Europe


Brexit deal allows tariff-free trade to continue after January 1
Major issues remain either unresolved or at risk of flaring up again



Brexit trade deal leaves major issues either unresolved or at risk of flaring up again.


Britain

European Union

Boris Johnson

Trade

Brexit: UK warns of ‘bumpy’ transition, despite trade deal with EU

Brexit deal allows tariff-free trade to continue after January 1 Major issues remain either unresolved or at risk of flaring up again

Brexit deal allows tariff-free trade to continue after January 1

Major issues remain either unresolved or at risk of flaring up again