Brexit Ends Britons’ Right To Live And Work In The EU

LONDON (AP) — So far, the large majority of British and EU citizens have not felt the realities of Brexit. Though the U.K. left the European Union on Jan. 31, it follows the bloc’s rules until the end of this year as part of a transition period to the new economic relationship.

That’s all set to change.

On Jan. 1, Britain embarks on its new, more distant relationship with the EU after nearly five decades of closer economic, cultural and social integration.

The change for Britain’s economy and people is the most dramatic since World War II, certainly more so than when the country joined what was then the European Economic Community in 1973.

“It’s a far bigger shock to our economic system and it’s going to happen instantaneously,” said Anand Menon, director of The U.K. in a Changing Europe think tank and a professor of European politics and foreign affairs at King’s College London.

“All of a sudden you wake up in a new world at the start of January.”

Here are some of the changes to movement that people will start to feel almost overnight.
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WHAT’S CHANGING?

Even though the coronavirus pandemic has led to a collapse in the numbers of people traveling between Britain and the EU, the end of freedom of movement from Jan. 1 will represent the most tangible Brexit consequence so far.

Under the divorce deal agreed by the two sides on Dec. 24, the roughly 1 million British citizens who are legal residents in the EU will have broadly the same rights as they have now. The same applies to more than 3 million EU citizens living in the U.K.

But British citizens will no longer have the automatic right to live and work in the EU, and vice versa. People who want to cross the border to settle will have to follow immigration rules and face other red tape such as ensuring their qualifications are recognized.

The exception is people moving between the U.K. and Ireland, which have a separate common travel area.

For many in the EU, the freedom to be able to travel, study and live anywhere in the 27-nation bloc is among the most appealing aspects of European integration.

Yet some in Britain and other parts of Western Europe became more skeptical about freedom of movement after several former communist nations in Eastern Europe joined the EU in 2004 and many of their citizens moved to the U.K. and other wealthier countries to work. Concerns over immigration were a major factor in Britain’s 2016 Brexit vote. On Jan. 1, the consequences of that decision will become apparent for British and European citizens alike.

WHAT ARE THE NEW TRAVEL RULES?

Although travelling for holidays will remain visa-free, British nationals will only be allowed to spend 90 days out of every 180 in the EU, while the U.K. will allow European citizens to stay for up to six consecutive months.

For retired British citizens who have been used to spending more than three months at their second homes on Spain’s sun-soaked Costa del Sol, the change may come as a shock. British travellers in Europe will also have to have at least six months left on their passports and buy their own travel insurance. Britons will no longer be issued the European Health Insurance Card, which guarantees access to medical care across the bloc, but the U.K. says it is setting up a replacement system so that U.K. visitors to the bloc and EU citizens visiting Britain still have medical coverage.

WHAT ABOUT PETS?

For British citizens accustomed to taking their dog, cat or ferret on vacation in Europe each summer, the situation will get more complicated as Britain will no longer be part of the EU’s pet passport scheme — although the agreement avoids the onerous months-long procedures that some had feared. U.K. pet owners will have to have their animal microchipped and vaccinated against rabies at least 21 days before travel, and will need to get an Animal Health Certificate from a veterinarian no more than 10 days before departure.

WILL DRIVING BE A HASSLE?

The deal means British drivers won’t need an international driving permit once they cross the Channel. British motorists can travel in the EU on their U.K. licenses and insurance, as long as they carry proof that they are insured in the form of a “green card.”

WHAT ABOUT WORKING?

The end of freedom of movement will have a major impact on hiring at all ends of the labor market.

A newly graduated British citizen on holiday in the Greek islands, for example, won’t be able to walk up to a beach bar and seek part-time work without having the necessary visa. The same applies for European citizens arriving in the U.K. They won’t be able to turn up at a sandwich shop like Pret a Manger and look for work without the necessary documentation.

Larger businesses will also find it far more difficult and costly to hire people from the other side. The deal does include provisions to allow contractors and business travelers to make short-term work trips without visas.

Gibraltar’s Border With Spain Still In Doubt After Brexit

BARCELONA, Spain (AP) — While corks may have popped in London and Brussels over the end to a four-year saga known as Brexit, there is one rocky speck of British soil still left in limbo.

Gibraltar, a British colony jutting off the southern tip of Spain’s mainland, wasn’t included in the Brexit trade deal announced on Christmas Eve between the European Union and the United Kingdom to reorganize the commercial and trade relations between the now 27-member bloc and the first nation to exit the group.

The deadline for Gibraltar remains Jan. 1, when a transitionary period regulating the short frontier between Gibraltar and Spain expires. If no deal is reached, there are serious concerns that a hard border would cause disruption for the workers, tourists and major business connections across the two sides.

Spain succeeded in convincing the EU to separate the issue of Gibraltar from the greater Brexit negotiations, meaning that Madrid is handling all talks directly with its counterparts in Gibraltar and London.

Spanish Foreign Minister Arancha González Laya said Thursday that if an agreement isn’t reached, she fears that the long lines of stranded truck drivers seen at the English Channel crossing this past week could be repeated.

“We do not have much time, and the scenes of chaos from the U.K. must remind us that we need to keep working to reach a deal on Gibraltar,” González Laya told Spanish state broadcaster RTVE. “Spaniards want one, the people of Gibraltar want one, now the U.K. needs to desire one as well. Political will is needed.”

Throughout the Brexit talks, Spain has insisted it wants a say on the future of Gibraltar.

The Rock was ceded to Britain in 1713, but Spain has never dropped its claim to sovereignty over it. For three centuries, the strategic outcrop of high terrain has given British navies command of the narrow seaway from the Mediterranean Sea to the Atlantic Ocean.

“Neither side is going to renounce its pretensions of sovereignty, but we must set that aside to reach a deal that makes lives easier for those living on both sides of the border,” González Laya said.

Negotiations with the U.K. are ongoing, González Laya said Monday, adding that she believes “a deal in principle is perfectly possible” by the end of the year.

“The best sign that Spain is really trying to reach an agreement is that it is not discussing (the negotiations) in public,” she said during an online news conference.

More than 15,000 people live in Spain and work in Gibraltar, making up about 50% of Gibraltar’s labor force. Gibraltar’s population of about 34,000 was overwhelmingly against Britain leaving the European Union. In the U.K.’s 2016 Brexit referendum, 96% of voters in Gibraltar supported remaining in the continental bloc that they feel gives them more leverage to deal with the government in Madrid.

Breakthrough: UK And EU Reach Post-Brexit Trade Agreement

BRUSSELS (AP) — Britain and the European Union have struck a provisional free-trade agreement that should avert New Year chaos for cross-border traders and bring a measure of certainty for businesses after years of Brexit turmoil. With just over a week until the U.K.’s final split from the EU, the U.K. government said the “deal is done.” British Prime Minister Boris Johnson and European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen are expected to make statements imminently. The deal should ensure the two sides can trade in goods without tariffs or quotas. But despite the breakthrough, key aspects of the future relationship between the 27-nation bloc and its former member remain uncertain. The British and European parliaments both must hold votes on the agreement, though the latter may not happen until after the U.K. leaves the EU’s economic embrace on Jan. 1.

Months of tense and often testy negotiations gradually whittled differences between the two sides down to three key issues: fair-competition rules, mechanisms for resolving future disputes and fishing rights. The rights of EU boats to trawl in British waters remained the last obstacle before it was resolved. However, key aspects of the future relationship between the 27-nation bloc and its former member remain unresolved. Johnson had insisted the U.K. would “prosper mightily” even if no deal were reached and the U.K. had to trade with the EU on World Trade Organization terms. But his government has acknowledged that a chaotic exit was likely to bring gridlock at Britain’s ports, temporary shortages of some goods and price increases for staple foods. The EU has long feared that Britain would undercut the bloc’s social, environmental and state aid rules after Brexit, becoming a low-regulation rival on the bloc’s doorstep. Britain denies planning to institute weaker standards but said that having to continue following EU regulations would undermine its sovereignty. A compromise was eventually reached on the tricky “level playing field” issues. The economically minor but hugely symbolic issue of fish came to be the final sticking point, with maritime EU nations seeking to retain access to U.K. waters where they have long fished and Britain insisting it must exercise control as an “independent coastal state,” Huge gaps over fishing were gradually closed over weeks of intense negotiations in Brussels, even as Johnson continued to insist that a no-deal exit was a likely and satisfactory outcome to the nine months of talks on the future relationship between the EU and its ex-member nation.

It has been 4 1/2 years since Britons voted 52%-48% to leave the EU and — in the words of the Brexiteers’ campaign slogan — “take back control” of the U.K.’s borders and laws. It took more than three years of wrangling before Britain left the bloc’s political structures on Jan. 31. Disentangling economies that were closely entwined as part of the EU’s single market for goods and services took even longer. The U.K. has remained part of the single market and customs union during an 11-month post-Brexit transition period. As a result, many people so far will have noticed little impact from Brexit. On Jan. 1, the breakup will start feeling real. The new year will bring huge changes, even with a trade deal. No longer will goods and people be able to move freely between the U.K. and its continental neighbors without border restrictions. EU nationals will no longer be able to live and work in Britain without visas -- though that does not apply to the more than 3 million already doing so -- and Britons can no longer automatically work or retire in EU nations. Exporters and importers face customs declarations, goods checks and other obstacles.

The U.K.-EU border is already reeling from new restrictions placed on travelers from Britain into France and other European countries due to a new coronavirus variant sweeping through London and southern England. Thousands of trucks were stuck in traffic jams near Dover on Wednesday, waiting for their drivers to get virus tests so they could enter the Eurotunnel to France. British supermarkets say the backlog will take days to clear and there could be shortages of some fresh produce over the holiday season. Despite the deal, there are still unanswered questions about huge areas, including security cooperation between the U.K. and the bloc and access to the EU market for Britain’s huge financial services sector.