Almost one year since Britain severed ties with its European Union neighbours, or took back control of its destiny, as Boris Johnson put it, Cosmetics Business investigates the reality of Brexit and how Covid-19 has overshadowed its impact
The EU and Great Britain managed to sign a trade deal on 31 December 2020
It’s understandable to have forgotten that last Christmas Eve an official trade deal between Britain and the EU was drafted.
Businesses were navigating the bombshell of Tier 4 restrictions across parts of the UK, while others were mourning the loss of their plans for a Christmas surrounded by their loved ones, in a year when many would be setting one less place around the dinner table.
But indeed, negotiators in the UK and Europe, after days of anxious deliberation that brought the fear of a no-deal Brexit close to reality, were finally able to sign on the dotted line for an 11th hour trade deal – just one day before EU trade agreements no longer applied to the UK.
If the landmark £668bn a year agreement, gesticulations and fist pumping had bypassed businesses and consumers then, 11 months on, there are no longer strict Covid-19 restrictions or a calamitous Christmas to hide behind.
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