It has been four years since the United Kingdom voted to leave the European Union. But since then, Brexit has been all talk. Yes, the U.K. legally withdrew from the EU on Jan. 31, 2020. But in the ensuing so-called “transition phase,” the U.K. has remained an EU member in all but name. British firms have still been free to do business on the continent, and Germans have been able to move to London for work.
But by Dec. 31 this year, when the transition period is over, Brexit will be a reality. The negotiations on post-Brexit economic relations between the EU and the U.K. are entering their final stages, and both sides are upping the ante. British Prime Minister Boris Johnson has said crashing out of the EU without a trade deal would be a “good outcome.” The EU, for its part, has underlined that it wants an arrangement but not at all costs.
