Op-Ed by Tala Karkanawi, Staff Writer

December 31st, 2020

With Brexit coming towards its end, Britain and the European Union have struck hard on definitively reaching trade agreement, settling an extensive dispute that underwent negotiations and stalemate for more than four years. Boris Johnson released a statement at a press conference saying: “We have taken back control of our laws and our destiny”. Britain was delighted by the end results of the deal with a hope of settling a soft approach in their upcoming exit. 

The UK is known for its parliamentary sovereignty and supremacy, as well as the pride they take upon this privilege. Parliamentary Sovereignty is a significant principle in UK’s uncodified constitution which states, ‘the courts cannot overrule its legislation and no Parliament can pass laws that future Parliament cannot change.’ Hence, it explains why the kept their constitution uncodified and unwritten on one piece of paper. The general issue with the UK being tied to the EU is the limitation being implemented on the sovereignty of the British parliament. Brexit began as a scheme to proclaim and affirm the British sovereignty and to throw off the constraints instigated by the EU. 

Boris Johnson and Usula von Der Leyen, President of the European Commission, made the necessary steps in order to reach a compromise that would deliver the needs of both the United Kingdom and the European Union.The deal was ratified by the British and the European Parliament in Brussels after almost a year of relentless negotiations and consultations which led into a ‘last minute’ bargain on Christmas Eve of 2020 over the rights of fishing and other trade disputes. The deal also includes almost two thousand pages; however, it leaves out the most significant details that need to be discussed, which will be discoursed later in 2021 and in the upcoming years. Nevertheless, the deal will not thwart disturbance in trading through the English Channel, since exports coming from Britain will have to go through border checks, which increases the costs for companies and businesses, as well as causing delays and interruptions at ports.

However, the agreement is envisaged as a landmark and a milestone coming from years of Brexit drama and tensions. Britain’s withdrawal from the European Union in January and a strategic and legal scheme for how the two sides will cohabit and coexist is bound to sever the deep ties that were built over the past fifty years or so. A failure to plan a safe and structured blueprint is bound to leave Britain and the EU in a tense situation, poisoning their relationship and leaving them in an acrimonious and a bitter impasse. 

The government has claimed that it would summon the MPs on the 30th of December to vote on the deal - which occurred yesterday successfully and the MPs approved the EU trade agreement. However, most lawmakers in Britain are not satisfied with deals that are rushed into acceptance. This is because legislations and laws customarily take months to get through with the parliament (passing through the house of commons and the house of lords), which involves a great deal of line-by-line inspection and examination of the laws given. The agreement still remains in need of approval from the EU’s legislature, which is not expected to take up the deal for weeks.

The European Union also has a great deal of approval and consent to go through, while the European commission awaits the remaining 27 European member states to go through the draft text of the trade that was done on Christmas Eve. This will take a couple of days for each member state to go through and analyse the context of the agreement, and then approve the outcome of the trade deals. 

The outcome of the meeting between the British parliament and the EU was of some significance; key points resulted. This includes and is not limited to:

-       Zero tariffs and quotas on goods 

-       End of free movement between EU members and the UK – this means EU members would have to apply for a visa when wanting to study, work, or start a business in the UK, and vice versa. 

-       Border checks will have to be applied between both the UK and EU member states. 

The list goes on with a couple more points and terms that discusses their shared commitment on protecting the environment, fighting against climate change, protecting social and labour rights, and so on. The UK and the EU were on the brink of pressure and strain depending on whether the UK was going to pull a hard or soft approach on their exit. However, the negotiations reached by this deal foreshadow the approach that will be used in the upcoming covenants in the forthcoming years. 

And to Brexit, I say, ‘Every new beginning, comes from some other beginning’s end.’ –Seneca.