FICHE DE CIVILISATION – Britain & Brexit

• Britain has debated the pros and cons (= the advantages and the drawbacks) of a club
of European nations almost since the idea was broached (= addressed = dealt with),
after World War II. Many in the UK, especially in England, have always been
sceptical of the political pan-European project revered (= venerated = admired =
idolized) by many on the continent.
• The antagonism towards the EU that surfaced during Margaret Thatcher's
premiership (1979-1990) was followed by decades of hostile media coverage,
especially in British tabloids1. At the heart of the debate in the UK is the balance to
be struck between two objectives: a desire for independence, sovereignty and
autonomy2 against the need to retain access to European markets, which, the EU
insists, means respecting its rules and committing to fairness in competition.

• The turmoil (= disorder = agitation) in the British domestic political scene has cut
across party lines (= affected all political parties). Internal party divisions have
affected both the UK government and opposition. The ruling Conservative party in
particular has long been riven (= divided = split = torn apart : déchiré) between
Eurosceptic and Europhile factions (= camps = groups).

§ Britain joined in 1973 — and held a referendum in 1975 on whether to gauge (=

judge = estimate = evaluate) support for the country's continued membership of
the European Communities (EC) — often known at the time as the European
Community and the Common Market. Then (= At that time = Back then), 67% of
voters supported staying. But that was hardly (= scarcely = barely : à peine) the end
of the argument.

§ The UK membership issue was never properly resolved and it came to a head (=
became critical) when in 2013, Prime Minister David Cameron promised a new
national referendum on Brexit.3 The options were “remain” or “leave,” and Mr.
Cameron was convinced that “remain” would win easily. But by the time of the vote
on June 23, 2016, a refugee crisis had made migration a subject of political rage (=
anger) across Europe. After an acrimonious (= full of anger) campaign and an ill-

1
Tabloid journalism (= presse à scandal, presse caniveau) :
A popular style of largely sensationalist journalism (usually dramatized and sometimes unverifiable or
even blatantly false), which takes its name from the format: a small-sized newspaper
(half broadsheet). The size became associated with sensationalism, and tabloid journalism replaced
the earlier label of yellow journalism and scandal sheets. Not all newspapers associated with tabloid
journalism are tabloid size, and not all tabloid-size newspapers engage in tabloid journalism; in
particular, since around the year 2000 many broadsheet newspapers converted to the more compact
tabloid format.
2
Supranationalism is an approach which has worked since 1952 within European organisations– and
not just inflicted by surprise on the United Kingdom when it joined in 1973. Over the years, the
United Kingdom has sought – and obtained – opt-out after opt-out (= clauses d’exception), until 2015-
16 when it sought a ‘re-negotiation’ only to find the European Union could and would shift no
further. Then the Brexit vote occurred in 2016.
3
Brexit is a portmanteau (= un mot valise) of the words Britain and exit and is to be caught on (=
is to be understood) as shorthand (= short way: manière abrégée) for the proposal that Britain leave3
the European Union and change its relationship with the EU (European Union) bloc on trade,
security and migration.
 defined (= badly explained) UK withdrawal from the European Union emerged with
the support of 52% of voters. Most voters in England and Wales supported Brexit,
particularly in rural areas and smaller cities. That overcame (= defeated = trounced)
majority support for remaining in the European Union among voters in London,
Scotland and Northern Ireland. Young people overwhelmingly (= outstandingly =
massively) voted against leaving, while older voters supported it.

§ Britain has been haggling (= quibbling = caviling: chicaner) over the nation’s
withdrawal (= removal) from the European Union, the process known as Brexit, since
the referendum in 2016. The badly divided Conservative government (with Theresa
May [2016-2019]) was in crisis, unable to agree on how to leave the EU.

§ The deadline to depart the bloc, just extended by the European Union, was
scheduled January. 31, 2019. The struggle cost Prime Minister Theresa May her job.
She announced in May 2019 that she would resign after failing to come up with a plan
that satisfied her party, her coalition partners, officials in Brussels and the British
parliament which repeatedly rejected her plan. Theresa May resigned on June 7th,
2019.

§ The task (= The job) to come up with a new version of the UK-EU accord then was
incumbent on (= fell to) Boris Johnson – a brash (= an arrogant = aggressively self-
assertive) proponent (= supporter) of withdrawal, chosen by the Tory party to take
control of the Brexit process. Many lawmakers (= MPs) were outraged (= shocked)
over Mr. Johnson’s insistence that if need be (= if necessary), he would pull Britain
from the European Union even without a formal agreement. When he maneuvered to
cut out (= do without: se passer de) the Members of Parliament by suspending
Parliament weeks before the deadline for withdrawal, Britain’s Supreme Court4
ruled that he had acted unlawfully (= illegally), and that Parliament must be allowed
to resume (= start again) its sessions as normal.

§ Just about the only clear decision Parliament has made on Brexit since the 2016
referendum was to give formal notice in 2017 to quit (= to leave), under Article 50 of
the European Union’s Lisbon Treaty, a legal process setting it on a two-year path to

4
îCivilisation – Britain’s Supreme Court: The Supreme Court of the United Kingdom (SCUK) is the
final court of appeal (= cour d’appel) in the UK for civil cases, and for criminal cases from England, Wales and
Northern Ireland. It hears cases of the greatest public or constitutional importance affecting the whole
population. It was established in 2009 to take over the judicial functions of the House of Lords.

2
 departure. That set March 29, 2019, as the formal divorce date. When it became clear
that Parliament would not accept Mrs. May’s deal by then, the European Union agreed
to push the precipice back to April 12, 2019. But the new deadline did not yield (=
produce) any more agreement in London, forcing Mrs. May to plead, again, for more
time. European leaders insisted on a longer delay this time and set October. 31, 2019
as the date.

§ On October 17, 2019, Prime Minister Boris Johnson and European Union negotiators
announced that they had signed (= clinched = struck) a draft deal (= projet d’accord),
consisting of a Withdrawal Agreement on the terms of departure, accompanied by
a Political Declaration on future ties – although it needed to clear several hurdles (=
obstacles), including final approval from the British Parliament and European
leaders.

§ Mr. Johnson took office in July 2019 and vowed (= pledged = promised) to take
Britain out of the bloc by October. 31, 2019 with or without a deal. But opposition
lawmakers (= MPs from opposition parties) and rebels in his own Tory (=
Conservative) party seized control of the Brexit process and moved to block a no-deal
Brexit and the prime minister’s efforts to hasten (= hurry) an exit. That in turn forced
Mr. Johnson to seek (= look for) an extension, something he said he would rather be
“dead in a ditch” (= mort dans un fossé) than do. European leaders agreed to extend the
deadline by three months, to January. 31, 2020 as Britain considers its options: some
version of Mr. Johnson’s deal (= a revised withdrawal agreement), a general election
or a second referendum.

– Boris Johnson still could not get Parliament to approve a revised withdrawal
agreement by the end of October 2019 and chose to call for a snap general election (=
élections législatives anticipées). The House of Commons set the election date for 12
December 2019. Johnson needed to obtain an overall majority (= majorité absolue) in
the election in order to accomplish his main goal of taking the United Kingdom out of
the European Union by the end of January 2020.

– The election resulted in a Conservative landslide majority (= majorité écrasante)

win of 80 seats, their largest majority since 1987, with the party making a net gain
of 48 seats and winning 43.6% of the vote — the highest percentage by any party
since 1979. (SEE The House of Commons p. 8 below)

§ In January 2020, Parliament finally ratified the agreement by passing

the Withdrawal Agreement Act. This marked the start of a transition period.
The Withdrawal Agreement Act received the Royal Assent5. The treaty was taken
to London for signing by Boris Johnson before it was returned to Brussels, where MEPs
(= Members of the European Parliament) voted on the deal.

§ The United Kingdom left the European Union — now an economic and political
partnership of 27 countries — on January 31, 2020 under the terms of a negotiated
divorce deal (the Withdrawal Agreement and Political Declaration), bringing to an
end 47 years of British membership of the EU and the institutions that preceded it.

5
Once a bill has completed all the parliamentary stages in both Houses, it is ready to receive royal assent.
This is when the queen formally agrees to make the bill into an Act of Parliament (= A law).

3
§ A last-minute deal on post-Brexit trade and future EU-UK relations (the Trade
and Cooperation Agreement), was struck on Christmas Eve 2020 (= December
24th, 2020 = veille de Noël en 2020) after months of deadlocked (= stalled = blocked
= stymied) negotiations. The "transition period" keeping most pre-departure
arrangements in place ended on December 31, 2020, and the formal ratification
process was completed in April 2021.

– The Trade and Cooperation Agreement (See below in section 4 – Brexit and its
relationships with the EU:
> allows for (= takes into consideration) tariff-free (= sans taxe douanière)
> allows for quota-free access (= accès illimité sans quota) to each other's markets
for goods but not all services.
> covers future competition, fishing rights, and cooperation on matters such as
security.

§ Released (= Freed) from EU trading and "free movement" rules, the UK has been
introducing its own policies on trade and immigration — as (= which) the EU can
now do regarding British nationals. Other changes affect people, travel and business.
EU nationals already living in the UK and Britons resident on the continent have the
right to remain — but campaigners say the registration process and questions over
documentation have caused uncertainty for some.

§ The UK's departure from the EU's Single Market and Customs Union has brought
significant disruption to trade, particularly to UK exports to the EU, due to new
border rules (= règlementation aux frontières) and red tape (= paper work :
paperasserie). In the UK, an exodus (= massive departure) of European workers and
tighter (= more drastic) immigration rules have contributed to a shortage of (= a
shortfall of = a lack of = a penury a scarcity of) people to fill (= occupy) jobs.

§ However, the impact of Brexit on shortages has at times (= sometimes) been difficult
to distinguish from that of the coronavirus pandemic. The UK has
repeatedly delayed imposing new border checks on EU imports, citing (= mentioning)
supply chain issues (= problèmes dans les chaînes d’approvisionnement).

§ EU-UK relations have continued to be strained (= tense = fraught : tendues). London

and Brussels have clashed (= fought = battled) over several issues
including diplomatic representation, coronavirus vaccine exports — and above all,
new arrangements for Northern Ireland.

– The Northern Ireland Protocol (NIP) was a part of the European Union and
United Kingdom's Brexit agreement and came into force in January 2021. The NIP
was designed to (= aimed to : destiné à) prevent a “hard border” on the island of
Ireland.

– This revised protocol on Northern Ireland replaced Theresa May’s plan in the
previous, rejected withdrawal deal known as the “backstop”. In the absence of a
trade deal or an alternative solution, Theresa May's idea was for the whole of the UK
to remain in a customs union with the EU, while Northern Ireland would be aligned
even more closely with EU rules. The backstop's removal means this arrangement

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 is now outdated. The NIP or revised agreement has similarities with the “backstop”
— which was rejected by May's government — but is more complex, and has one key
difference in that legally, Northern Ireland remains in the UK customs union
while the rest of the UK doesn’t.

– As a consequence, now, the NIP prevents checks on goods (= contrôles sur les
marchandises) coming from Northern Ireland (part of the UK) into the Republic of
Ireland (= Eire) part of the EU) in an effort to preserve the 1998 Good Friday
Agreement, which ended decades of sectarian violence in Ireland.6 But it means
that Northern Ireland must follow the rules of the EU's single market, resulting in
checks (= controls) on certain goods coming from England, Scotland and Wales into
Northern Ireland. The NIP has led to protests from unionists7 in Northern Ireland who
say the protocol weakens ties (= links) with the rest of the UK and has created
shortages (= paucity = lacks = penuries: des pénuries). The Johnson government
wants to scrap (= get rid of) most such controls and remove any role for the
European Court of Justice (ECJ) as arbiter of disputes (= disagreements).
The EU is ready to simplify many checks, but not to renegotiate the entire protocol.

6
îCivilisation – The Good Friday Agreement (1998):
The Belfast Agreement is also known as the Good Friday Agreement, because it was reached on
Good Friday (= Vendredi Saint), 10 April 1998. It was an agreement between the British and Irish
governments, and most of the political parties in Northern Ireland, on how Northern Ireland should be
governed. The talks leading to the Agreement addressed issues which had caused conflict during
previous decades. The aim was establish a new, devolved government (= gouvernement décentralisé)
for Northern Ireland in which unionists and nationalists would share power.* On the constitutional
question of whether Northern Ireland should remain in the UK or become part of a united Ireland, it
was agreed that there would be no change without the consent of the majority. This is called the
'principle of consent'. Majority opinion in the future could be tested by referendum. The two main
political parties to the Agreement were the Ulster Unionist Party (UUP), led by David Trimble and
the Social Democratic and Labour Party (SDLP), led by John Hume. The two leaders jointly won
the 1998 Nobel Peace Prize. Other parties involved in reaching agreement included Sinn Féin, the
Alliance Party and the Progressive Unionist Party. The Democratic Unionist Party (DUP),
which later became the largest unionist party, did not support the Agreement. It walked out of (= left)
the talks when Sinn Féin and loyalist parties joined, because republican and loyalist paramilitary
weapons had not been decommissioned (= renounced the use of weapons).

* The Northern Ireland Assembly also referred to as the Stormont Assembly, is

the devolved legislature (= decentralized legislative assembly) of Northern Ireland. It has power to
legislate in a wide range of areas that are not explicitly reserved to the Parliament of the United
Kingdom (= Westminster), and to appoint the Northern Ireland Executive. It sits at Parliament
Buildings at Stormont in Belfast. The Assembly was in a period of suspension until January 2020,
after it collapsed in January 2017 due to policy disagreements between its power-sharing leadership.
In January 2020, the British and Irish governments agreed on a deal to restore devolved government
in Northern Ireland.
7
Much of the population of Northern Ireland identifies with one of two different
ideologies: unionism (which wants the region to remain part of the United Kingdom) and Irish
nationalism (which wants a united Ireland). Unionists are predominantly Ulster Protestant, most of
whom belong to the Presbyterian Church in Ireland and the Church of Ireland. Irish nationalists
are almost wholly Roman Catholic. There is also a small minority of Ulster nationalists (those who
want an independent Northern Irish state), whose religious convictions vary.

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 Hence (= As a consequence = For this reason) the impasse (= the deadlock = the
stalemate).

– Brexit also has renewed debate about Northern Ireland’s constitutional status and
prompted calls from Sinn Fein8 for a border poll9, on whether Northern Ireland
should remain part of the UK.

1– The Fishing permits issue:

§ The tensions have played into arguments (= dissensions = strife = oppositions)

between the British and French governments over fishing permits. Under a new post-
Brexit trade deal (which came into force at the start of 2021), EU members states’
boats need licences to fish in UK and Jersey waters and UK boats need them to fish
in the waters of EU member states. Licences are granted to boats that can prove they
have fished in a particular area between 1 February 2017 and 31 January 2020.
Requiring proof in this way is normal practice in fisheries management and there are
often disputes about the evidence. In October, the UK and Jersey denied licences to
dozens of French boats. On 11 December 2021, Jersey ministers gave permanent
licences to another five French vessels, taking the total number to 130. That leaves 33
vessels which have temporary licences that are due to expire on 31 January 2022,
and 54 applications which have been rejected. A British trawler (= chalutier)
was seized by France in October because it was not on an EU list of vessels that had
been granted licences to fish in French waters. The UK government said the trawler
had been granted a licence but it was unclear why it was not on the list. The vessel
was subsequently released (= freed). The dispute is also about licences for small
boats to fish in territorial waters between six and 12 nautical miles10 from Britain. On
15 December, the UK government said it had received 50 applications for French
boats under 12 metres to fish in that zone and that it had issued 19 licences. On 1
December, Guernsey announced that it had issued licences to 40 boats, it had
rejected 15 applications and that it would be issuing another three licences "in due
course" (= en temps voulu). Then, on 19 November, French President Macron told
reporters: "We have not got what we wanted," and added: "We will not yield (=
surrender : se rendre; abandoner)." On 26 November, French fishermen took their
own action, including blocking access to French ports for British boats and blocking
lorries (= trucks) at the Eurotunnel freight terminal. On 23 December, French Europe
Minister Clement Beaune told France 2 television that, in early January, France would
be taking its complaints to the special tribunal set up as part of the Brexit agreements.
Britain’s fishing fleet is a small fraction of the size it reached in the middle of the last
century — a decline for which Brexit proponents (= supporters) have long blamed
E.U. rules on sharing access to fisheries. The British government cast its split from

8
Sinn Féin is one of the two largest parties in the Northern Ireland Assembly, winning one fewer seat
than the Democratic Unionist Party (DUP) at the 2017 Northern Ireland Assembly election.
9
The Northern Ireland border poll was a referendum held in Northern Ireland on 8 March 1973 on
whether Northern Ireland should remain part of the United Kingdom or join with the Republic of
Ireland to form a united Ireland. It was the first time that a major referendum had been held in any
region of the United Kingdom. The referendum was boycotted by nationalists and resulted in a
conclusive victory for remaining in the UK. On a voter turnout of 58.7%, 98.9%oted to remain in the
UK.
10
Le nautique ou mille marin international est une unité de distance utilisée en navigation maritime
ou aérienne. Il équivaut à 1 852 mètres,

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 the EU (= voted to leave the EU) as a chance to revive an industry that was also a
storied (= glorious) way of life. In the trade deal negotiations, both sides had to
compromise: E.U. boats kept more rights in British waters than Britain had demanded,
but over a shorter period than Brussels had called for. Tensions are still high:
France detained a British trawler in October, 2021 citing a dispute over licenses for
dozens of French vessels. And in May, Britain sent Royal Navy ships in response to a
protest blockade by French fishing boats off the semi-autonomous island of Jersey.
That may not help British fishing companies, which long sold much of their catch
in Europe. Some seafood exporters say delays from new checks could drive them
out of business (= make them go bankrupt).

2 – The immigration issue :

§ There has been bad blood (= animosity = animus = a strong feeling of anger) between
the British and French governments over migration across the English Channel.
The number of migrants trying to reach England on boats from France has more than
doubled in a year. About 15,500 migrants had either attempted or successfully crossed
by August 31, 2021 according to the French Maritime Prefecture. Since then the
number has continued to grow at a rapid pace with French authorities successfully
preventing four times more small boat crossings and rescuing more than 1,470 people
in the English Channel. Britain's Home Office no longer provides a tally (= a number
: un décompte) but it is believed the number now exceeds 20,000 — that's a 235%
increase on 2020 when 8,500 people braved the crossing. Britain is to pay France
€62.7 million to fund (= finance) a clampdown (= a crackdown = a repression =
restrictions) on illegal migration via the English Channel, the Home Office (=
Ministère de l’Intérieur) announced. The deal between the two countries will see
French authorities double the number of officers deployed along the coast with their
patrol area widened. It also includes the deployment of more wide-area surveillance
technology and vehicles to boost surveillance along the French coast as well as funds
to provide voluntary returns to countries of origin and to invest in reception centres
for migrants across France.

3 – The Scottish issue :

§ Within (= Inside) the UK, post-Brexit tensions have continued in Scotland

where separatist parties won a majority of seats in 2021 elections, calling for
another independence referendum. Scotland has been part of the UK since 1707
and the issue of Scottish independence appeared settled (= fixed = solved : réglée)
when Scottish voters rejected secession by 55%-45% in a 2014 referendum. But
the UK-wide decision in 2016 to leave the European Union ran against the wishes of
most Scots : 62% voted in favour of staying within the bloc while most voters in
England and Wales wanted to leave.

– Scottish First Minister Nicola Sturgeon has made clear that the timing of any
future referendum will depend largely on how the coronavirus pandemic unfolds (=
develops = grows = expands). But the SNP leader has also said that the process could
begin as soon as early next year if COVID-19 is brought under control by then.
Scots voted against independence from Britain in a 2014 referendum, but the pro-
independence Scottish National Party, or S.N.P., has dominated the Scottish
Parliament in Holyrood near Edinburg for more than a decade. It has promised to

7
 legislate for a rerun (= a second referendum), with Brexit as its justification. and
British PM Boris Johnson has repeatedly said he would stop a second referendum
from happening.

– Scottish elections in May 2021 left the S.N.P. one seat short of a majority (=
majorité à un siège près : 64 seats out of 129 seats11 in the Scottish Parliament), but it
has support from smaller pro-independence parties – the SNP entered a power-
sharing agreement with the Scottish Greens.12 In order to hold a second referendum
will need the green light (= the agreement of London) and Scotland will have to
formally request a Section 30 order under the Scotland Act. Section 30, the same
mechanism used to launch the 2014 Scottish independence referendum, allows the
UK government to temporarily transfer power to legislate a referendum to the Scottish
parliament. If neither side (= the Scottish Parliament against the London government
in Westminster) backs down (= gives in = yields = surrenders : ne lâche prise,
n’abandonne, ne renonce), the result could be a court battle (= bataille juridique) in
the UK Supreme Court , or even a constitutional crisis. The Supreme Court affirmed
Westminster’s ultimate sovereignty over the devolved parliaments13 (= assemblées
parlementaires décentalisées) and dealt a major blow (= a été un coup dur) to the
Scottish government’s hopes to legislate for its own independence referendum. The
SNP government has a strong preference for an agreement with the UK government
on a second referendum, as happened in 2014, but it has said that it could call a
referendum without Westminster’s authorisation. If there is no agreement with
Westminster on this, the SNP has stated that it will introduce its own referendum
bill.

– Scottish independence would cost Britain 8% of its population, a third of its

landmass (= territory) and a significant loss of its international prestige.

4 – Brexit and its repercussions on the economy and its relationships with the
EU:

§ Leaving the EU is a big deal economically for the UK. Europe has been Britain’s
largest trading partner and largest export market (42% of all UK exports) and its
biggest source of foreign investment. E.U. membership helped London cement (=
consolidate) its position as a global financial hub (= center) with the City. For
decades, British companies could move goods to and from the European Union
without taxes (= taxed) or tariffs (= customs duties = customs fees: droits de douane).

– The government’s economic forecaster puts the damage to GDP from Brexit at
4%, or twice that of the pandemic. UK trade with the EU fell dramatically in 2020
amid disruptions to international trade caused by the coronavirus pandemic. The UK
had an overall trade deficit of -£49 billion with the EU in 2020.

– Total UK-EU goods trade was down by 15%, or £17bn, in the second quarter of
2021 compared to the same period in 2018.

11
The majority is 129 : 2 = 64,5 > 65 seats.
12
The SNP is the largest political party in Scotland, where it has the most seats in the Scottish Parliament (64)
and 45 out of the 59 Scottish seats in the House of Commons at Westminster.
13

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 – UK exports to the EU fell by 14% between 2019 and 2020, In 2020, UK exports to
the EU were £251 billion (42% of all UK exports).

– UK imports from the EU were £301 billion (50% of all UK imports) but fell by
19% between 2019 and 2020.

– A combination of the pandemic and Brexit have left the government with a severe
fiscal headache. In the fiscal year to March 2021, the public sector borrowed £298
billion, more than 14% of GDP – a higher proportion than at any time since the end
of WWII (= the second world war). In late June 2021, the net debt of the public sector
stood at £2.2 trillion, almost exactly 100 per cent of GDP (a level not seen since 1961,
when Britain was still paying down its mountain of war debt).

> With the National Health Service now facing a backlog (= retard) of almost 6
million cases unrelated to covid-19, and the social care system close to collapse, the
government has introduced a new health and social care levy (= prélèvements
sociaux) that will take the UK tax burden (= fardeau fiscal) to its highest level since
the 1950s. With this tax hike, the government’s official forecaster projects a reduction
in the debt to 88% of GDP in the coming five years. But the situation remains
extremely fragile: supply chain problems (= problems d’approvisionnement des
marchnadises) and labour shortages (= pénuries de main d’oeuvre) – both
exacerbated by Brexit – along with rising energy prices (= augmentation des prix de
l’énergie), are contributing to the development of a cost-of-living crisis (= crise due à
l’augmentation du coût de la vie). The Bank of England expects inflation to hit 5%
in 2022. Nor is it clear how the government intends to fund its climate change
commitments or pay for Johnson’s signature promise to “level up” (= improve)
those deprived (= poor) regions of the country that delivered him his 2019 election
victory.

§ The UK-EU Trade and Cooperation Agreement (TCA) provides for free trade in
goods and limited mutual market access in services, as well as for cooperation
mechanisms in a range of policy areas, transitional provisions (= temporary
conditions) about EU access to UK fisheries, and UK participation in some EU
programmes. According to the TCA competition should be fair thanks to the level
playing field trade-policy. 14 Here is a list of what is not possible any more for the
UK – compared to its previous status as an EU member state:

> UK membership in the European Single Market and Customs Union.

> UK participation in most EU programmes except for such programmes as
Horizon Europe (research) and Copernicus (space). The UK also reached agreement

14
The level playing field is a trade-policy term for a set of common rules and standards (= normes)
that prevent businesses in one country gaining a competitive advantage over those operating in other
countries. These could be rules limiting the type of zero-hours contracts that can be offered to
workers, for example, or restrictions on the amount of pollution certain industrial processes are
allowed to produce. It is about fair and open competition and it is an important part of the EU single
market in which member countries allow the free movement of people, goods, services and capital.
The focus in the EU-UK trade agreement is on regulations that cover environmental standards and
labour law, and on state aid (= government subsidies for business). In the negotiations, the UK was
determined to assert its sovereignty – which in this case means its independence from EU rules –
while the EU was determined to protect its single market and control access to it.

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 with the EU and Euratom to associate to the next Euratom Research & Training
(R&T) Programme 2021-2025 subject to ratification of the overall deal and
finalisation of the regulations. A new Turing scheme starting in September 2021 will
replace the UK’s participation in Erasmus+. The programme will provide similar
opportunities for students to study and work abroad as the Erasmus+
programme and will include countries across the world.
> Part of EU-UK law enforcement (= forces de l’ordre) and security cooperation
such as the access to real time crime data (= accès en temps réel aux bases de
données sur la criminalité).
> Defense and foreign policy cooperation.
> The authority of the European Court of Justice in dispute settlement (=
règlement des litiges) except with respect to the Northern Ireland Protocol.
> Free movement of persons. Before Brexit, people could also move freely. But as
2021 began, business changed for many — including British automakers, who rely on
suppliers across Europe, and touring musicians, who suddenly faced a thicket of (= a
whole lot of : une jungle, un maquis de) visa rules. The agreement that London and
Brussels reached late in 2020 avoided tariffs or quotas on goods. But traders still
confronted new red tape (= paperwork) and unpredictable delays, sometimes
resulting in rotting cargoes (= marchandises qui pourrissent). And the services sector
— about 80% or more of British economic activity, comprising not only the financial
industry, but also lawyers, architects, consultants and others — was left dependent on
patchwork (= confusing = mixed up) decisions by European regulators.
Britain’s Office for Budget Responsibility, an independent official body, says trade
with the European Union took a sharp hit in January 2021. It estimates that Britain’s
economy is 4%less productive than it would have been inside the bloc.

§ Post-Brexit Britain is free to pursue an independent trade policy and from 2021 can
implement its own trade deals with other countries. The British government has been
working to "roll over" (= faire basculer) dozens of EU trade deals with third
countries which no longer apply to the UK. Britain's largest non-EU partners – with
which it hopes to strike a future trade deal – is the US. President Biden has warned
this will be impossible if the Irish peace accord (The Good Friday Agreement,
which effectively ended three decades of violence in Northern Ireland) is
undermined (= sabotaged = destroyed). Some trade experts say the UK faces a key
choice over regulatory alignment: whether to stay close to EU rules to access the
European market, or follow American regulation.

5 – ‘Global Britain’: 15

§ Brexit’s supporters say their aim is a ‘Global Britain.’ Opponents of Brexit

describe it as an attempt to reclaim (= recover = retrieve) an imagined Britain of the
past (The Nostalgia of the British Empire), one with fewer European
migrants and more patriotic singing. But Mr. Johnson, like many prominent
proponents, (= major supporters) often presents it as a way of embracing change.

§ Outside the E.U. single market, with its shared regulations, Britain can set rules to
encourage innovation, although the deal permits either side to seek redress for
regulatory changes that might create an unfair advantage. Outside the bloc’s customs

15
SEE Fiche de Civilisation – Global Britain.

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 union, with its common tariffs, Britain can seek trade deals with countries such as
India and, as mentioned above, with the United States. It signed a major trade
deal with Australia in June 2020. Some Brexit supporters also argue that ending
free migration for European Union citizens will allow more flexibility for others — a
case that resonated in British Asian communities during the referendum campaign.
When China imposed a security law in 2019 on Hong Kong, Mr. Johnson offered
British residency rights to three million people in the city, though without helping
them leave. A British agreement alongside the United States to help Australia deploy
nuclear submarines was hailed (= greeted = salué) by Brexit supporters as a success
for the new approach. It also upset an Australian defense deal with France.16 But
most benefits of a Global Britain so far remain theoretical. The Office for Budget
Responsibility has said it expects barely any effect from new trade deals.

CONCLUSION – Post-Brexit Britain’s Future17

For bankers, traders, truckers, architects and millions of migrants, the December 24th, 2020
trade agreement was only the beginning of a high-stakes (= enjeux élevés) and unpredictable
experiment. Britain has been short of customs agents (= personnel à la douane, agents
douaniers) to deal with the tens of millions of declarations now needed, industry experts said.
It has repeatedly delayed some of its own new border checks, with several deadlines pushed
to July 2022. In the years after Britain’s referendum, the number of Europeans migrating to
the country for work plunged, and British companies relocated (= se sont délocalisées) and
sent employees to Paris, Dublin or Frankfurt. The number of jobs that will be relocated, or
created in different places, is still uncertain, but many British businesses say they
are struggling to fill positions (= jobs) that might once have been taken by E.U. workers,
presenting a risk to Britain’s pandemic recovery. A lack of truck drivers, echoed in other
countries but exacerbated by Brexit, has caused passing shortages (= penuries) of a
bewildering (= incredible) range of items including Nando’s chicken and Haribo sweets.
And the future of some E.U. citizens in Britain remains uncertain. More than 2 million have
been granted “settled status,” the right to stay indefinitely. But applications closed at the end
of June 2021 and the process has made few provisions for those unable to complete it online,
much less for those who don’t realize they need permission to stay somewhere they have
lived for decades.

There has been concern (= worry) that the prolonged, acrimonious (= angry) post-Brexit
process — compounded (= made worse) by the pandemic and its economic fallout (= bad
consequences)— has shifted (= moved) attention (= a détourné l’attention) from major global
challenges, not least (= mostly) the climate emergency – the Glasgow Climate Summit
Meeting in November 2021 is a case in point).

For many in Europe, the UK-EU split (= divorce) weakens the continent at a time when the
United States has turned inward (= looked inward = focused on national interest)18 and
other powers, notably China and Russia, are increasingly assertive (= domineering = bold
and self-confident).

The House of Commons (= Westminster in London)

16
SEE TEXT Press #119 – Under the Waves Down Under – Australia in File US & World Affairs.
17
SEE TEXT Press from TEXT Press #6 onwards in File – TEXT Press – The UK.
18
SEE TEXT Press #123 – If the US Pulls Back.

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Type of House: The Lower house of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. 19
Length of term: Up to 5 years
Voting system: First-past-the-post20
Last election: 12 December 2019
Next election: 2024
Prime Minister: Boris Johnson, chosen (after Theresa May resigned as PM) by the members of the
Conservative party since 24 July 2019 but elected only in December 2019.
Leader of the Opposition: Keir Starmer, Labour since 4 April 2020.

Number of seats in the House of Commons: 650

Political party in office
Conservative Party (359 MPS)
Major Opposition party
Labour Party (199 MPs)
Labour and Co-operative (25 MPs)
Other opposition parties
Scottish National Party (45 MPs)
Liberal Democrats (13 MPs)
Democratic Unionist Party (8 MPs)
Plaid Cymru (3 MPs)
Social Democratic and Labour Party (2 MPs)
Alba Party (2 MPs)
Alliance Party (1 MP)
Green Party (1 MP)
Independent (7 MP)
Sinn Féin (7 MP)
Vacant seats (2 MP)

19
The other House is the Upper House of the Parliament also referred to as The House of Lords.
Currently, there are about 800 members who are entitled to (= eligible to) take part in the work of the
House of Lords :
– Life peers: The majority (about 700) of members are appointed for their lifetime by the Queen on
the advice of the Prime Minister.
– Archbishops (= archevêques) and bishops (évêques) : 26 Church of England archbishops and
bishops sit in the House. When they retire as bishops their membership of the House ceases and is
passed on to the next most senior bishop. The Archbishop of Canterbury is usually appointed a life
peer on retirement.
– Elected hereditary members: When Tony Blair was in office (1997-2007), the House of Lords
Act 1999 ended the right of most hereditary peers (= Pairs héréditaires du royaume en raison de leur
statut d’aristocrate) to sit and vote in the House. Ninety-two hereditary peers remain.
The House of Lords’ powers are defined in the Parliament Act of 1911 and 1949. Under the 1911
act, all bills specified by the speaker of the House of Commons as money bills (involving taxation or
expenditures) become law one month after being sent for consideration to the House of Lords, with or
without the consent of that house. Under the 1949 act, all other public bills not receiving the approval
of the House of Lords become law provided that they are passed by two successive parliamentary
sessions.
20
In a first-past-the-post electoral system (FPTP) voters cast their vote for a candidate of their
choice, and the candidate who receives the most votes wins (even if the top candidate gets less than
50%, which can happen when there are more than two popular candidates).

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