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.
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.
Over the past five years, British businesses have adapted to new conditions and Prime Minister Starmer wants to improve the terms of trade between Britain and the EU.
"But he doesn't want something which looks like it's about seriously revisiting and overturning part of the Brexit deal," Hay said.
"So it's a little bit one foot in, one foot out ... in particular, what he has asked for is easing up the flow of goods into the UK economy from the European Union and vice versa, particularly foods."
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Europe still strong
While the EU has maintained economic cohesion despite global challenges like the Ukraine war and inflation, Brexit has affected both sides.
"Brexit was not a victimless crime," said Hay. "Brexit caused hardship for Britain, but it's caused hardship for every single one of the EU member states that exports to the UK.
"Since most of those economies had a balance of trade surplus with the UK, in one sense, it's done almost more harm to EU member states together than it's done to Britain individually. So there has been lots of suffering from this."
The split has weakened Europe's geopolitical position in negotiations with global powers like Russia, China and the US.
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Shifting attitudes
A recent YouGov survey found 55 percent of Britons now consider Brexit a mistake, with younger people particularly favouring closer European ties.
"The polls show that if a referendum were to happen tomorrow, Britain would vote to overturn the original decision," said Hay.
"But there's a very big but here, because if you study the polling data, if you ask British citizens if they would they like to have a second referendum, they're very clear that they don't want to revisit the question again ... [and] the Labour government is not contemplating that at all.
"The British political class today views Brexit as something which has already happened and is irreversible now," said Hay.
