Brexit

The UK's exit from the EU, often referred to as Brexit, took place on 31 January 2020 and is governed by the Withdrawal Agreement signed on 24 January 2020. Under the transition period agreed therein until 31 December 2020, the long-term relationship between the United Kingdom (UK) and the European Union (EU) was renegotiated by 24 December 2020. As a result, the United Kingdom will no longer be part of the EU single market and customs union as of 1 January 2021.

The withdrawal process was triggered by the EU membership referendum on 23 June 2016 (usually called the Brexit referendum), in which 51.89% of participants voted to leave the EU. Prime Minister Theresa May effectively initiated the withdrawal from the EU and EURATOM on 29 March 2017, in accordance with Article 50 of the Treaty on European Union, by written notification to the European Council, beginning a two-year negotiation period that was extended three more times in 2019.

In a keynote speech in January 2017, May presented a twelve-point plan for a Brexit without partial EU membership or associate membership; according to this plan, the UK would leave the European single market, the customs union and the jurisdiction of the European Court of Justice. On 14 November 2018, the EU and the UK government agreed on a withdrawal agreement.

The vote on the withdrawal agreement scheduled for 11 December 2018 in the House of Commons was postponed due to domestic opposition, in particular over the so-called "backstop" clause, which was intended to prevent a hard border between Ireland and the United Kingdom, and further renegotiations took place. In three votes between January and March 2019, the House of Commons voted overwhelmingly against the agreement on each occasion. To prevent a disorderly exit on 29 March 2019, the European Council and the UK government twice agreed to postpone the exit date until 31 October 2019 at the latest. As a result, the UK had to vote in the European election on 23 May, in which the Brexit Party, formed in 2019, won 30.5% of the vote at the first attempt and entered the EU Parliament as the election winner with 29 seats.

In July 2019, Theresa May resigned from office and Boris Johnson succeeded her. The House of Commons passed legislation in early September requiring the prime minister to seek a further extension from the EU if no withdrawal agreement had been ratified by 19 October. On 10 September Johnson prorogued Parliament for an unusually long period, with a prorogation declared illegal by the Supreme Court on 24 September. On October 17, the British government and the EU agreed on a renegotiated deal that now no longer included a backstop. As the House of Commons adjourned the vote on October 19, Johnson was forced to request a new postponement of the exit date to January 31, 2020. The European Council granted the request on October 28.

As a result, the House of Commons decided to hold an early election on 12 December. The Conservative Party received an absolute majority of seats in the House of Commons. In January 2020, the UK Parliament and the EU Parliament approved the Brexit Agreement, under which the UK left the European Union and EURATOM at 23:00 UTC (24:00 CET) on 31 January 2020, but remained part of the EU Single Market and Customs Union until the end of 2020.

According to forecasts, Brexit will hit the UK economy in particular, which has already been in recession since March 2020 due to the COVID 19 pandemic. It is also expected to have a significant impact on the EU, especially Germany and other EU countries with strong ties to the UK.

With the Trade and Cooperation Agreement between the European Union and the United Kingdom signed on 30 December 2020 and provisionally entering into force on 1 January 2021, the EU exit is now settled in legal terms for the time being.

Term Brexit

The term Brexit, an amalgamation of British and exit, has become established worldwide as shorthand for the United Kingdom's withdrawal from the European Union. The Duden classifies the term Brexit as political jargon. After the emergence of the word Grexit for the possible exit of Greece from the euro area in the first decade of the 21st century, a series of similar terms was formed, primarily by print media.

The first use of the term Brexit can be traced back to 15 May 2012. As a variation, the artificial word Brixit appeared as early as June 2012.

Brexit supporters are sometimes called Brexiteers or Leavers, Brexit opponents Remainers, and pejoratively Remoaners (portmanteau of remainer and moan) or Bremoaners.

Chronicle

2016

• February 20: British Prime Minister David Cameron announces the date of the referendum on leaving the EU.
• April 13: An electoral commission recognises two associations as campaigning organisations, Vote Leave and Britain Stronger in Europe.
• 23 June: In the referendum on whether the United Kingdom should leave the EU, just under 52% of voters decide in favour of leaving.
• June 24: Prime Minister Cameron announces his resignation in October 2016.
• July 13: Theresa May, the original Brexit opponent, is appointed as the new prime minister. Brexit supporter David Davis becomes minister for withdrawal from the European Union.

2017

• February 1: The House of Commons passes legislation authorising the UK government to submit a withdrawal application to the EU.
• March 1: The House of Lords tabled an amendment to the Brexit Bill.
• March 13: The House of Commons rejects the amendment to the Brexit Bill. The House of Lords accepts the original Brexit Bill.
• March 29: Official withdrawal request from the UK to the EU under Article 50. The UK and EU have until March 29, 2019 to negotiate withdrawal arrangements.
• April 18: Early election for the House of Commons announced.
• June 8: The House of Commons is re-elected.
• 15 December: The Council of the European Union notes that the necessary progress has been made on the withdrawal amount, citizens abroad and the Irish border and decides to enter into the second round of negotiations.

2018

• 20 June: The Withdrawal Act comes into force. It ensures that after withdrawal, European rules become UK rules, so that the UK can amend them.
• July 9: Dominic Raab becomes Minister for Exiting the European Union.
• November 13: The European Commission publishes a contingency plan for leaving without an agreement.
• 14 November: The European Commission and the British government present the draft withdrawal agreement.
• November 16: Stephen Barclay becomes Minister for Exiting the European Union.
• 25 November: The European Council approves the text of the withdrawal agreement as the outcome of negotiations, which will be submitted first to the UK Parliament and then, after its approval, to the European Parliament for a vote.
• 10 December: The British government cancels the vote on the agreement in the House of Commons scheduled for 11 December, as May fears defeat. She subsequently tries in vain to obtain further concessions from the EU.

2019

• January 15: The House of Commons votes against the withdrawal agreement (432:202).
• March 12: The House of Commons again decides against the withdrawal agreement (391:242 votes).
• March 13: The House of Commons rejects a UK exit from the EU without a deal (321 votes to 278), after a previously adopted amendment (312 votes to 308) removes the time restriction from the main motion.
• 14 March: The House of Commons rejects a second referendum on remaining in the EU (85:334 votes). Furthermore, the House of Commons rejects Parliament setting the agenda of Parliament instead of the government (312:314 votes). A motion by the government that it be instructed to negotiate with the EU for a postponement of the withdrawal date by at least three months is adopted (412:202 votes).
• March 20/21: Prime Minister May asks the European Union for a Brexit postponement until June 30, 2019, and reaches an agreement with the European Council to postpone until at least April 12.
• March 29: The House of Commons decides against accepting the withdrawal arrangements of the Withdrawal Agreement (344 votes to 286).
• April 5: Prime Minister May again asks the European Union for a Brexit delay until June 30, 2019.
• 10 April: The EU-27 summit with Prime Minister May in Brussels approves the proposal to give the UK until 31 October 2019 to accept the negotiated deal. Otherwise, the unregulated exit of the UK from the EU will take place on 31 October.
• April 11: The UK announces it will vote in the EU parliamentary elections on May 26, 2019.
• May 24: Prime Minister May announces her resignation as Conservative Party leader on June 7.
• July 24: Boris Johnson becomes the new prime minister and names his new cabinet. He promises Brexit for 31 October - and under all circumstances ("do or die").
• August 28: Prime Minister Johnson announces a recess in the current session of Parliament (known as prorogation) from September 10 to October 10.
• September 3: The British government loses its majority in the House of Commons during the current parliamentary session due to Tory MP Phillip Lee's factional switch to the pro-European Liberals.
• Sept. 9: Parliament passes a bill by 311 votes to 302 requiring the British government to reapply to the EU for a postponement of the withdrawal beyond Oct. 31 unless a withdrawal agreement is reached with the EU by Oct. 19.
• September 9: At the end of the day, the current session of Parliament is suspended. The next scheduled sitting day is 14 October.
• 24 September: The UK Supreme Court declares the adjournment of Parliament unconstitutional and therefore void. John Bercow, Speaker of the House of Commons, then declares that Parliament will resume on 25 September.
• 17 October: The European Council (all heads of government, including the UK) agrees on amendments to the current withdrawal agreement of November 2018, which now provides, among other things, for an arrangement in which goods destined for the EU are already cleared and checked in the UK instead of the backstop.
• October 19: The House of Commons postpones the vote on the new deal, forcing Johnson to again request a postponement of the Brexit date from the European Council. Johnson sends a request for an extension to Donald Tusk and another letter asking for the extension to be rejected.
• October 21: The UK government publishes a draft Brexit bill.
• 22 October: The House of Commons votes in favour of a second reading on the Brexit Bill (329:299 votes). However, the House of Commons votes against the government's proposed legislative timetable (322:308 votes).
• 28 October: The European Council agrees on a further postponement of the exit date to 31 January 2020, with the option of an earlier exit in case the withdrawal agreement is ratified earlier. The formal decision is taken the next day.
• October 29: The House of Commons votes 438-20 to call a new election on December 12.
• December 12: In the election to the British House of Commons, Prime Minister Johnson's Conservative Party wins an absolute majority of seats.
• 20 December: The House of Commons approves the EU Exit Bill by 353 votes to 243. All 352 Conservative MPs and Labour MP Emma Lewell-Buck vote to pass the bill.

2020

• 22 January: The British bill proposed by Boris Johnson to leave the EU clears the final hurdle in the British Parliament with approval in the House of Lords. Previously, the House of Lords had attempted to introduce several amendments, but these were rejected by the House of Commons. With the Royal Assent the next day, the European Union (Withdrawal Agreement) Act 2020 becomes law.
• 24 January: The withdrawal agreement between the EU and the United Kingdom is signed first in Brussels by Ursula von der Leyen (President of the European Commission) and Charles Michel (President of the European Council), then by Prime Minister Boris Johnson at his official residence in London.
• January 29: The EU Parliament ratifies the Brexit agreement by 621 votes to 49 and bids farewell to the departing member by singing Auld Lang Syne.
• 31 January: At 23.00 UTC (24.00 CET) the withdrawal agreement takes effect. The United Kingdom is now considered a third country by the EU.
• October: The House of Lords rejects the controversial Internal Market Bill, with which the Johnson government wants to undermine the current Brexit deal.
• November 7: Ursula von der Leyen and Johnson negotiate a post-Brexit trade deal.
• November 9: The House of Lords again rejects the controversial Single Market Bill by 433 votes to 165.
• 24 December: An agreement in principle on a trade and cooperation agreement was reached. The governments of all EU member states and, in some cases, their parliaments, the European Parliament and the British Parliament still have to approve the agreement.
• 30 December: EU Commission President Ursula von der Leyen and Council President Charles Michel sign the Trade and Cooperation Agreement. The British House of Commons also votes in favour of the agreement. The national parliaments of Scotland and Northern Ireland vote against the agreement. The national parliament of Wales voted in favour of the agreement. These decisions by the national parliaments were merely symbolic.
• 31 December: Queen Elizabeth II brings into force the law applying the agreement with the EU. The governments of Great Britain and Spain decide that the British overseas territory of Gibraltar will join the Schengen area.

2021

• 1 January: The transition period, which has been in force since 1 February 2020, ends. The United Kingdom has left the EU single market and customs union. The Trade and Cooperation Agreement applies provisionally. Gibraltar joins the Schengen area.
• first quarter of 2021: trade volumes between the UK and EU countries are 23.1 per cent lower than in the first quarter of 2018 (which is considered the last stable trading period before Brexit). Trade with non-European countries fell by 0.8 per cent over the same period.
• 27 April: The EU Parliament approves the agreement.
• 19 May: talks between the British government and the US government on trade agreements stagnate.