Five years on, has Brexit put Britain at a disadvantage in EU talks?

With Brexit imminent, British MEPs were packing boxes and removing personal items from their Brussels offices.

Five years after Brexit, the European Union appears to be setting the agenda in trade talks with Britain. Britons, meanwhile, are divided over whether the political and economic separation has been a success.

When the United Kingdom formally left the European Union at 11pm universal time on 31 January 2020, the economies on both sides of the English Channel entered unchartered waters.

While breaking from the EU was championed by Brexiteers as a step toward sovereignty and economic independence, its impact has been mixed.

As Prime Minister Keir Starmer seeks better deals with Brussels, EU officials insist insist Britain must first implement the existing agreements before any concessions are considered.

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The financial burden of Brexit continues to mount, with estimates putting the cost at over €36 billion.

Unresolved questions

Trade figures show the scale of change.

UK exports to the EU fell by 27 percent and imports dropped by 32 percent between 2021 and 2023, the Institute for Public Policy Research reports.

"It's been a success in the sense that Brexit now feels like something in the past. It's been done. But it's not something that everyone's terribly happy about," UK politics professor Colin Hay, from Sciences-Po in Paris, told RFI.

"They're not chuffed [with what] Brexit turned out to be. And that leaves a whole series of questions unresolved, which now become the agenda for the next five years and next 10 years."

The UK has yet to fully implement the Brexit deal's requirements for produce to flow freely between Britain and the EU.


Read more on RFI English

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