-Prime Minister Boris Johnson relentlessly campaigned
for Britain to separate from the European Union
on January 31, 2020.
-We are going to unite and level up.
-But untangling a decades-long relationship
doesn't happen overnight -- or in a day.
Exit Day, as it's called, was just the beginning of the end.
Until the end of 2020,
everything will remain the same in Britain,
except that 73 British members of the European Parliament
will leave Brussels and return to the United Kingdom.
Britain will continue to play by the rules
and also pay into the EU budget,
even though it doesn't have a say
in making the rules anymore.
-I know you're gonna miss us.
I know you want to ban our national flags,
but we're gonna wave you goodbye.
-So, while the UK has left the EU
and has entered into a transition period,
during which it has 11 months to figure out a long to-do list,
and that list includes trade, security, immigration,
intelligence, satellites, fisheries,
university research programs, environmental laws,
and data sharing.
Can Britain get all of this done in 11 months?
The EU says it's not enough time.
But Johnson says it is.
Either way, they'll have to prioritize.
-At the top of the list will be striking
a new trade deal with the European Union.
So, there are 450 million customers on Britain's doorstep,
and they want to continue to trade with those customers.
So negotiators in London and Brussels
will be hammering out a new trade deal.
Britain wants a trade deal.
They want zero tariffs, zero quotas.
They want this by the end of the year.
-However, the EU is skeptical of this timeline,
because trade deals typically take more than 11 months.
Some even take years.
-They have said, really in a friendly way,
that this is pretty much impossible
to have a comprehensive trade deal by the end of the year.
So, we could see something, you know,
where we have a thin trade deal or partial agreements
and then rolling negotiations on a variety of other sectors.
-Britain's exit also means the end of freedom of movement,
meaning after the 11-month transition period
that ends at the end of December 2020,
borders between the UK and the EU will no longer be open.
So, for example, a doctor from France
will have to go through the same hoops
as a doctor from the United States
in order to live and work in the UK.
To mark this change, the UK is returning to blue passports,
which is the color they were before it joined the EU.
As far as immigration goes, there's still a lot to decide.
-We don't know exactly what kind of immigration --
post-Brexit immigration policy
the Johnson government is going to unveil.
Boris Johnson has frequently said
that he would like to have something along the lines
of an Australian points-based system.
And one of the things this would mean is that European citizens
would no longer get preference over other non-EU citizens.
But in terms of exactly, you know,
what the points will look like --
I mean, all of that stuff is to be determined.
But I think we can probably expect some announcement on that
in the next few months.
-One of the more surprising items
on Britain's to-do list is fisheries.
-Fishing has emerged as a highly emotive issue in the UK.
It's not a massive industry.
It's not a big part of the British economy.
But Britain is a coastal nation, and fishing is hugely symbolic.
-EU countries are allowed to fish in each other's waters,
but with Brexit, that might change.
-British fishermen think that they have very rich waters,
and they want to take back control of their waters.
Now, the EU will fight for access to British waters.
If they don't get it, then they could deny
British fishermen access back into their markets.
-Britain's departure from the EU also means it's leaving
the treaties that the EU has signed with other countries.
The "Financial Times" conducted a tally,
and it calculated that Britain will need to re-sign
around 750 treaties.
-And the British government, for its part, says,
"You know, this is not a big deal.
It can be done pretty quickly.
You know, we can add a couple extra lines
and rubber-stamp it."
But, either way, it will take a lot of ink.
-Britain has less than a year to rewire a machine
that's operated for more than 40 years.
-Can they get it all done in 11 months?
That might be a big ask.
I mean, let's see. I think there will be a lot
of stuff going on behind the scenes.
Boris Johnson will probably try to make Brexit
as boring as possible
to get it off the front pages, to keep it technical.
And it will be a real scramble to try to get
especially a trade deal with the European Union,
its largest trading partner, by the end of the year.
-If Johnson can't check all the boxes on Britain's
to-do list at the end of December 2020,
he could ask for an extension,
which Johnson says he doesn't want to do,
but it could lead to a no-deal departure.
-I think nobody entirely knows the consequences
of a no-deal departure, but experts have long warned
that there could be serious economic consequences,
at least in the short term.
It's something that all sides
have fought really hard to avoid.
If they haven't come to an agreement
by the end of this year
and if the Johnson government doesn't seek an extension,
we could be back at that cliff edge again.
-For Auld Lang Syne.