After three years of fight, the final date of Brexit was decided to be on January 31, 2020. Brexit is an abbreviation for “British exit” referring to the United Kingdom’s decision in 2016 to leave the European Union. In a public vote (known as a referendum) in 2016, 17.4 million people opted for Brexit during Theresa May’s government, but it was declined around three times by the Member of Parliament or the House of the Lords which led May to resign from her position. Hence, Boris Johnson replaced her in July 2019 and negotiated the deal further resulting in finalising the date of Brexit.
The U.K. joined the European Union in 1973 and will be the first member to leave the economic and political union involving twenty-eight European countries which allows free trade without any extra charges and taxes and free movement of the citizens of the involved countries. The Brexit will see a new trade agreement between the Union and the U.K. According to the withdrawal agreement signed by the EU leaders, the U.K. will be stripped off its decision-making position but will remain in the EU’s single market and customs union till the end of this year as it is considered to be the implementation period.
Mai’a Cross, an Edward W. Brooke Professor of Political Science and International Affairs at Northeastern University claims the eleven-month transition period to be not long enough to negotiate a major and elaborate trade relationship as she said, “I think we’ll be back to a cliff-edge scenario by Dec. 31, where the U.K. will just crash out of EU markets.” The withdrawal period agreement also has included an option to extend the period but the current government of Boris Johnson has decidedly announced to settle the whole matter within December 31, 2020.
The EU has strict laws regarding the trade matters including the insurance of the quality and safety of the products, high environmental standards, and protection of the labourers but the U.K. does not accept these constraints. According to Cross, this determined exit can result in uncertainty in daily trades and travels.
Rubena Bose