A post-Brexit agreement on trade and other issues has been agreed on 24 December. Members of the European parliament started dealing with the post-Brexit trade agreement on Monday. The agreement contains new rules for how the UK and EU will live, work and trade from now on.
The most important part of the agreement are these:
- No taxes on each other’s goods when they cross borders (known as tariffs)
- No limits on the amount of things which can be traded (known as quotas)
Even though there is an agreement, it still needs to be made law, which means it must be approved by both the European and UK parliaments.
In the beginning of January 2021, there will be some changes in rules for EU citizens working in UK and for UK citizens working in EU (read more in here about living and working in Finland). Rules for business trips as well as holidays will change as free movement of people between the EU and UK comes to an end. UK citizens will be allowed to stay in the EU for 90 days in any 180-day period without a visa. The same will apply for EU citizens in the UK. UK citizens wishing to travel to Europe should also have at least six months left on their passport before they travel. From 2022, UK citizens will have to pay for a visa-waiver scheme to visit many EU countries.
The European Commission says the choice to end free movement means that business travel between the EU and the UK will not be as easy in the future as it is now. The British passport no longer gives access to the EU passport queue at airports and borders.
Read more about Brexit:
Living in Finland
Prime Minister’s Office
Finnish Immigration Office
The Social Insurance Institution of Finland
Work in an EU country
