Friday 31 January at 11pm at Londonand midnight at Brusselsthe United Kingdom officially left the European Union after 1,317 days of procrastination and three postponements of this Brexit.
For the travellers between the UK and Europe, not much has changed in practice. Visit aircraft continue to fly between the continent and the United Kingdom, trains Eurostar to link London to the rest of the continent, while ships and trucks will enter the respective territories of the European Union and the United Kingdom without the meticulous checks that everyone seemed to fear just a few months ago.
What will happen from February 1st for all passengers travelling between the UK and the European Union? Good news: nothing, or almost nothing.
Visa-free entry
According to the UK government's official website on Brexit, any EU citizen can continue to visit the UK for holidays or short trips, without needing a visa. A valid passport or a simple national identity card must be presented, as has been the case until now. There are no restrictions for UK passport holders travelling to the EU. Travellers in possession of a biometric passport will be able to continue to use the electronic passport readers, E-Gate in the United Kingdom and E-Passport in the United Kingdom. Parafe in France.
If there are any changes, it won't be until the beginning of the year. 2021according to the new post-Brexit agreements negotiated. In any case, it seems certain that short-term tourists will continue to visa-free entry after January 2021. However, it is possible that only the passport will be accepted, rather than the identity card. For British nationals, a passport valid for at least six months at the time of entry will probably be required. If no agreement is reached, other restrictions could be put in place, such as the end of the use of the common UK-EU immigration queues. Travellers are advised to check the information websites of the various Ministries of Foreign Affairs regularly.
As for Europeans living in the United Kingdom, they will have to request by June 2021 the "settlement status ("residency status"), which will give the right to remain in the United Kingdom.
There will also be no change in customs and duties until the end of December. No additional checks to be expected at ports or airportsat least until January 2021especially if no trade agreement is reached.
Medical insurance
As far as medical cover is concerned, the European Health Insurance Card is still valid until the end of the year, so you can benefit from free care or care at minimal cost. But to be on the safe side, it's best to make sure you still have travel insurance with health cover before you leave.
This status will change definitively after the 31 December 2020. La EHIC will no longer valid in the UK, the country wishing to negotiate medical cover agreements on a country-by-country basis. This would mean, for example, that if the United Kingdom and Spain mutually recognise their national medical insurance following negotiation, this provision might not be the same between France and the United Kingdom if no reciprocal medical cover agreement is reached. Everything would then work on the principle of " we'll look after your citizens if you look after ours ".
For European Union citizens living in the United Kingdom, in the absence of a reciprocal agreement, the use of national health services - the famous NHS - is subject to a tax of 400 pounds per year.
Bring your own vehicle
The driving licence British and European will always be valid until the end of December. But after the 1st January 2021An international driving licence may be required, as well as a 'green card' for car insurance.
Use of mobile phones
Here again, there will be no no change on 31 January - but things could change from 1st January 2021. Free mobile phone roaming may no longer be guaranteed at that time for British customers on the continent and vice versa. This will be left to the market.
No impact on transport volumes
Brexit or no Brexit, traffic between France and the UK has not slowed down. Eurostar continued to record a steady stream of traffic. On the 11 million passengers transported in 2018, the Paris-London market share reached 70%, i.e. 7.7 million passengers.
Le air traffic between France and the UK in 2018 reached 13.4 million passengers. The three most important routes in 2018 were Paris CDG-London Heathrow with 1.25 million passengers, followed by Paris CDG-Manchester with 628,000 passengers and Nice-London Gatwick with 621,000 passengers. France/UK passenger volume is the second highest on European routes, with a market share of 15%, just behind Spain and ahead of Italy.
However, market growth has slow for the past two to three years. In air transport, after an increase of 6.4% in 2017, air traffic stagnated in 2018 and has only increased by 0.8% in 2019, according to the first figures from the DGAC. The DGAC blames the mediocre performance in 2018 more on the bankruptcy of BMI Regional than Brexit.
Eurostar has released a increase of 4% year-on-year growth in passenger traffic, marking an slowdown compared with 2018, when this traffic increased by 7%.
For the time being, the majority of airlines and Eurostar have not announced any changes to their schedules or frequencies, apart from seasonal capacity adjustments with the start of the summer timetable at the end of March.
So what will be the biggest change for travellers post-Brexit? The British asking for a new passport will admire its blue colour, without the EU logo, instead of the burgundy red to which they have been accustomed for the last twenty years or so...
