… According to journalists who cover religion, this was the year’s … language: ‘Yeah, freedom of religion means freedom of worship, that … showdown was the most important religion-news story of 2020. … Hillsong pastor Carl Lentz.
As religion newsmakers of the year, …
COVID was year’s top religion story, But which story?
Britain and the European Union agree on the hardest Brexit
A trade agreement is good news, but is limited
THE POST-BREXIT deal announced on December 24th by Boris Johnson, Britain’s prime minister, and Ursula von der Leyen, the European Commission’s president, has come extremely late for Christmas. It is also painfully close to the end of the standstill transition period on December 31st. It falls short of the best-in-class, comprehensive free-trade agreement that Mr Johnson once promised. And costly disruption to today’s frictionless trade is inevitable when Britain leaves the EU’s single market and customs union on January 1st. All the same, the deal is welcome. It will at least constitute a base on which to build further agreements.
Brexit has counterposed two visions of sovereignty. Mr Johnson rejoiced over Britain gaining the unfettered ability to write its own laws. Ms von der Leyen suggested instead that sovereignty was best assured by “pooling our strength and speaking together in a world full of great powers.” Both spoke of remaining close partners and allies.
Right up to the last minute, there was no guarantee that negotiations would succeed. Arguments in Brussels between Michel Barnier, the EU’s negotiator, and David Frost, his British counterpart, dragged on through the week. Three familiar issues were at stake: a level playing field for regulation to prevent unfair competition; some continuing EU countries’ access to British fishing waters; and a dispute-settlement mechanism. In the end Mr Johnson and Ms von der Leyen were brought in to make the necessary compromises. As has been the pattern since the 2016 referendum, Britain has generally had to move the most, largely abandoning its initial position of keeping most of the benefits of the EU’s single market without the obligations. This reflects the power balance between the two, as well as the fact that no-deal would have been more damaging to Britain than to the EU.
The agreement is unusual; it does not presage a closer trading relationship but a parting of the ways. The details are yet to emerge in full, although most of what is in the deal is now known. For the level playing field, the two sides have agreed that an independent arbitrator should decide whether future regulatory divergence is sufficiently harmful to permit retaliation through tariffs. On fish, the EU will retain access for just over five years, though with its quota cut by 25%; after that, future arrangements will require negotiation. And there will be a system for settling disputes that does not include a role for the European Court of Justice except for interpreting EU law. With these three points settled, bringing home a zero-tariff, zero-quota free-trade agreement is an achievement for Mr Johnson. (On trade in goods, this is a better deal than Canada has with the EU, the model he favoured; but it comes with more stringent obligations on maintaining a level playing field.)
The immediate task will be to ratify a text that runs to some 2,000 pages in all. That is a lot for anyone to digest in less than seven days. Yet EU governments have been closely involved in the negotiations, so none is likely to object. And Mr Johnson’s big majority means that the Westminster Parliament seems certain to approve the deal next week, even though MPs will not realistically have had enough time for proper scrutiny. For its part the European Parliament has decided that it needs more time, so it will not vote on the deal until January. To the annoyance of many MEPs, EU governments are expected to apply it provisionally ahead of such a vote. Yet as a recent report from the House of Commons Brexit committee points out, most businesses will still be ill-prepared for the changes to come on January 1st. Chaotic disruption can be expected. This week’s lorry queues in Kent, caused mainly by restrictions related to the covid-19 pandemic, were a warning. The cost of Mr Johnson’s obstinate refusal to extend the transition period when he had the legal opportunity to do so in June will soon become clear.
A bigger concern is what the deal omits. Its trade provisions relate almost entirely to goods, meaning there is next to nothing for services, which constitute 80% of Britain’s economy and make up the fastest-growing sector of global exports. The EU has yet to deliver an equivalence ruling for financial-services regulation, and even when it does it can be withdrawn at only 30 days’ notice. Even more urgently needed is an EU data-adequacy decision to permit the free transfer of data, a crucial part of modern cross-border business. There is nothing in the deal on mutual recognition of professional-services qualifications.
Nor is there anything on foreign-policy co-operation, which the British government seems not to value. And although the deal has some provisions on domestic security, British access to EU security databases and the Europol system of police work will be more limited than now. Similarly Britain will lose its uninhibited right to use the European Arrest Warrant.
For most Britons, the more immediate impact will be losing the right of free movement throughout the EU, a consequence of ending EU citizens’ right to enter the UK. There will be some travel and work restrictions, and existing arrangements for health care and car insurance are likely to end. Some scientific and research co-operation should continue, but Britain has been excluded from the Galileo satellite-positioning project and there are uncertainties over the terms for its future participation in the Horizon research programme. Britain is also going to drop out of the EU’s Erasmus scheme of student exchanges. And then there is Northern Ireland, which unlike Great Britain will remain in the single market and customs union. Border and customs checks in the Irish Sea are likely to foment continuing debate over the future unity of the UK, as will continuing Scottish opposition to Brexit.
Most analysis of the consequences finds that, even with a trade deal, there will be a hit to the economy. Recently the independent Office for Budget Responsibility suggested that GDP would in the long run be reduced by some 4% compared with what it would otherwise have been. And, although Britain has successfully rolled over most of the free-trade deals that it had with other countries as a member of the EU, there is little sign of offsetting gains from new trade deals with the likes of America, China or India. In short, this will be as hard a Brexit as anything but no deal, and much harder than might have been expected after the relatively narrow referendum result of June 2016. Yet it is still good to have, if only because (to adapt a favourite slogan of Brexiteers), any deal is better than no deal.
‘The Bachelorette”s Ivan Hall explains the conversation about religion that led to his shocking elimination
ABC/Craig Sjodin(LOS ANGELES) — Following The Bachelorette‘s season 16 finale on Tuesday, Ivan Hall shed some light on his conversation with Tayshia Adams about religion that led to his shocking elimination.
Adams, whose Bachelorette journey ended with an engagement to Zac Clark, an addiction specialist from Haddonfield, New Jersey, cited differences differences in religious beliefs as the reason for sending the 28-year-old aeronautical engineer home.
“She only wants to date a Christian and I’m not religious,” Hall claimed in response to a message from Bachelor alum Caila Quinn after his elimination, according to the New York Post.
“I’m open to and have dated any religion,” he continued.
“I feel like we started off really strong, and we found that trust,” Adams explained in a conversation with Ivan before letting him go.
“But also, this past week, we talked about some important subjects that I feel like we both needed to have, but there are some things kinda posed concern,” she added.
“I wish I could say that there were a lot of red flags prior to this week, and there haven’t been,” Tayshia continued. At the end of the day, religion is part of my morals, my beliefs.”
Adams has the Bible verse Psalm 46:5 posted in her Instagram bio, which reads: “God is within her, she will not fall; God will help her at break of day.”
By George Costantino
Copyright © 2020, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.
Archaeologists in Israel unearth ritual bath from Jesus’ time, at Gethsemane
A 2,000-year-old ritual bath dating to the time of Jesus has been discovered by Israeli archaeologists at Gethsemane, where Jesus prayed just before his crucifixion.
The archaeological excavations by the Israel Antiquities Authority ahead of a pending construction unearthed the bath near the modern church at Gethsemane, together with the remains of a church from the Byzantine period around 1,500 years ago, The Jerusalem Post reported.
“The discovery of the ritual bath may therefore hint at the origin of the place’s ancient name, Gethsemane (Gat Shemanim, ‘oil press’), a place where ritually pure oil was produced near the city.”
The evidence suggests the ancient church was founded at the end of the Byzantine period in the sixth century and continued to be used during the Umayyad period in the eighth century.
The finds were uncovered with the assistance of scholars from the Studium Biblicum Franciscanum.
They were presented on Dec. 21 with the participation of the Custos of the Holy Land, Fr. Francesco Patton.
The Church of Gethsemane is also known as the Church of the Agony or Church of All Nations and is at the foot of the famous Mount of Olives in Jerusalem.
It is one of Christianity’s most important churches and is visited by thousands of pilgrims each year.
PLACE WHERE JESUS WAS BETRAYED
The modern church was built on the spot where Christian tradition holds that Jesus was betrayed on the night before his crucifixion.
Christian belief says that Jesus used to pray on the Mount of Olives according to the Gospel of Like (22:39) and prayed here on the night before the crucifixion (Mattew. 26:36).
Amit Re ’em, Jerusalem District Archaeologist for the Israel Antiquities Authority, said the discovery of the ritual bath “probably confirms the place’s ancient name, Gethsemane.”
“Most ritual baths from the Second Temple period have been found in private homes and public buildings, but some have been discovered near agricultural installations and tombs, in which case the ritual bath is located in the open,” he said.
Workers building a new visitor center and foot tunnel linking the modern church to the Kidron Valley found the remains.
“The discovery of the ritual bath may therefore hint at the origin of the place’s ancient name, Gethsemane (Gat Shemanim, ‘oil press’), a place where ritually pure oil was produced near the city.”
The finds from the excavations are to be put on display at the visitor center when it opens.
“The discovery of this bath, unaccompanied by buildings, probably attests to the existence of an agricultural industry here 2,000 years ago – possibly producing oil or wine,” said Re ’em.
OIL AND WINE PRODUCTION
“The Jewish laws of purification obliged workers involved in oil and wine production to purify themselves.”
Custos of the Holy Land, a senior friar, Fr. Francesco Patton, said it was an “important” discovery.
“Gethsemane is one of the most important sanctuaries in the Holy Land, because in this place the tradition remembers the confident prayer of Jesus and his betrayal and because every year millions of pilgrims visit and pray in this place,” he said.
“Even the latest excavations conducted on this site have confirmed the antiquity of the Christian memory and tradition linked to the place, and this is very important for us and for the spiritual meaning connected with the archeological findings.
“I greet with great pleasure this fruitful cooperation between the Custody of the Holy Land, the Studium Biblicum Franciscanum, and the Israel Antiquities Authority, and I hope that we will be able to join our scientific competences for further future collaborations.”
Ivan Hall Spills All on His and Tayshia Adams’ Deal Breaker Conversation About Religion
Tayshia Adams just wasn’t down for an interfaith relationship. At least, that’s what Ivan Hall claims was the reason the pair didn’t work out on The Bachelorette.
During Tuesday night’s season finale, fans were surprised when the Bachelorette suddenly revealed that “morals and my beliefs” came between them, as she instead accepted Zac Clark‘s proposal.
Ivan told Tayshia onscreen, “All the girls I have dated in the past, it never ended because of religion or anything, but I know that’s something that’s important to you.”
Viewers hadn’t seen the duo explicitly talk about their religious views before. So when they simply mentioned it was the deal breaker that ultimately swayed her decision, we needed to know what really went down.
Fortunately for fans, Ivan is now spilling the tea on what happened during their off-screen conversation and how he learned that religion was the major barrier between the ABC stars.
Behind the Scenes Secrets About Tayshia Adams’ Style on The Bachelorette
On PodcastOne’s Off The Vine podcast on Wednesday, Dec. 23, Ivan explained that the fantasy suites were their one opportunity to have hours of uninterrupted time to discuss raising kids and other life priorities. It turns out, religion got brought up then, as well.
The Texan revealed, “I knew we were going to have to talk about it eventually, because I could tell she was at least, that she was Christian, but we hadn’t talked about it in the past. But she said maybe once to me that she relied on her faith a lot.”
Ivan went on, “That’s how it came up, Tayshia was like, ‘So what do you think about raising kids with religion and what not?’ And that’s when we dove into it. And I kind of explained to Tayshia, ‘Listen, I’m agnostic. A lot of people confuse it for being atheist. Atheist is not what I am.'”
He views atheism as “taking a hard stance that there is not God,” which is not his belief. “Agnostic is strictly saying ‘I don’t know,’ basically. And that’s just how I feel,” he explained.
The aeronautical engineer continued, “When she starts asking me my beliefs like, ‘Is there heaven or is there a hell?’ that kind of stuff, I’m going to be like, ‘Yeah, my answer is going to be different than yours because I’m going to tell our kids I don’t know what there is.'”
Ivan told his date he was “completely fine” with her telling their potential children about her views and taking them to church.
“In my past, I’ve dated women who are Christian, I’ve dated women who are Muslim. I’m completely open to it, it is what it is,” Ivan added. “You can have whatever religion you want, my main focus are the values and morals you have.”
It appears that’s where things may have differed between him and the 30-year-old former phlebotomist. He said on the podcast, “She wanted to date someone who is Christian. And that’s completely fine and that’s how a lot of people are.”
However, he hinted that it would have been easier for everyone involved if she would have been more upfront about it. Ivan dished, “It does suck or whatever that you probably could’ve just eliminated X amount of people in the beginning for that.”
The 28-year-old went on to say that when he brought up the term “interfaith relationship” when discussing their future, the Bachelor in Paradise alum didn’t understand what he meant. “I don’t think Tayshia even knew what that was or ever really thought about the idea of dating a non-Christian,” he explained.
Though he thinks interfaith relationships bring a lot of “value” to a dynamic, he feels that Tayshia was just “not into” it.
Furthermore, he wasn’t down to be with a life partner that didn’t “accept me for just who I am,” because he never wants to change himself for someone else. “I don’t really want to be with that person anyways. So that’s kind of how I rationalized it in my head,” he said.
It seems like it’s all water under the bridge now. As the science whiz put it, “The chapter is closed. It just is what it is. I still care for Tayshia, she’s cool, all that stuff. We had a good time.”
In the end, he’s happy she ended up with Zac. “He’s a great guy, I really do like him. I really appreciated the guys in the house that I considered to be real and didn’t do stuff for the camera,” Ivan continued. “He’s a class act. He’s a man, I respect the guy to death.”
The Filipino hunk said that Zac and Tayshia “had a ton of chemistry going on, and I didn’t realize that.”
He admitted that from the outside looking in on their relationship, “I guess one would question their lifestyles are on opposite coasts.” As Ivan pointed out, “He’s sober, it seemed like Tayshia honestly liked to drink… I don’t know how that plays into it.”
But he also gave Zac some credit, saying, “I know for certain, I could tell, that Zac was in love with Tayshia. Like, before all of us he was there first and he’s a great guy and he’s going to treat her right.” Ivan added, “I wish them the best though.”
How do Tayshia’s other men feel about her engagement? See what fellow runner up Ben Smith said during his candid conversation with Nick Viall on Wednesday.
Peacock is live now! Check out NBCU’s new streaming service here.
A book discovery brings distant voices of Christmas
Christmas is many things, not least an opportunity to remember past years, celebrations and people. With this offering, we’re reprising a Christmas story we published in 2014.
A ghost of Christmas past recently appeared at the “Goody Pile” corner of the Recycling Center.
It took the form of a book, filled with handwritten entries from 1849 to 1852.
The book is what was known as a “Christmas album,” popular in the mid-19th century here and in Britain as gifts for the holidays.
The object itself tells stories, but it’s the voices of a group of young adults — with all their quirks, humor and longings recorded by hand inside — that speaks across the decades.
About the size of a contemporary hardcover, it was once bright, beautiful and expertly crafted, with red leather covers front and back. Now it’s broken and weathered by more than 160 years. The front cover, once vivid with raised etchings in gold leaf, is faded and worn bare around the edges.
But it still caught the eye of Islander Colin Hoye. He spotted it half-hidden in a box of other falling-apart paper records and books at that corner of the Recycling Center where people drop off objects or pick them up for free.
Mr. Hoye describes himself as a “picker,” someone who mines the different sections of the Recycling Center looking for recoverable items. His mother lode discoveries are old paper records and books, which on occasion he gives to the Shelter Island Historical Society.
Mr. Hoye took the battered Christmas album home. There are mysteries within, including the identity of the group of friends who wrote in the book.
When he began to decipher it — many lines and passages are showing their age — he was on a journey, carried back by the voices of a circle of friends from long ago.
Mysteries across the years
The finely produced paper of the pages of Christmas albums were blank, to be used as hand-written diaries, or more commonly as places to record poetry — as well as lyrics and random thoughts — either composed by the receiver of the gift or to quote professional writers. Friends were invited to fill its pages with their own favorite quotes, or to write something original.
Mr. Hoye’s album was published by J.C. Riker of Fulton Street, Brooklyn. According to S.J. Wolfe, cataloguer with the American Antiquarian Society of Worchester, Mass., Mr. Riker was a superb craftsman who published many Christmas albums.
He’s listed as a publisher from 1827 through 1859 by the AAS. Mr. Riker was something of a moving target in those days, due to itchy feet or perhaps because creditors were on his trail, since his company is listed at seven different locations over the 32 years he was in business.
Mr. Hoye came by the Reporter office last week to drop off the book and tell of his discovery. “People wrote in this book for a reason,” Mr. Hoye said, speaking about the writers expressing love for Shelter Island and each other. In at least one passage a relationship is indicated that at the time would have been considered scandalous.
Throughout the album are pages of fine illustrations reproduced from engravings, all protected by transparent tissue sewn into the binding by the publisher. The images are from the school of “Orientalism,” or 19th-century depictions by European artists of what they ignorantly thought were representations of Middle Eastern scenes and culture.
A typical example of this is an image titled “The Miniature,” showing a young European woman in a long, Victorian-era gown with a form-fitting bodice, holding an oval-framed miniature picture on a chain. Looming over her is a rake in a beret adorned with a long feather, a short dagger on his fine coat.
Another shows a young woman, languidly holding a basket of flowers with distant valleys and mountains behind her. She pensively holds a finger to her cheek, with the title, “Why doesn’t he come?”
‘Fair Shelter Island’
Perhaps the most intriguing part of the album is a series of love poems, written and signed by men to a woman named Asenath, sometimes referred to as “Asene, ” who is praised for her beauty, wit and charm.
But it seems Asenath had a female suitor, as well. A woman, revealing herself only as “H,” copied out a published love lyric of the time, titled “Mary Lee,” but changed the beloved’s name to “Asene.”
“My wreathed flowers are few,
Yet no fairer drink the dew,
My bonny Asene …
Some may boast a richer prize
Under pride and wealth’s disguise:
None a fonder offering bore
Than this of mine to thee;
And can true love wish for more?
Surely not, Asene.”
It’s a testament that the writer of those lines was joined by another, desiring to leave something more serious and heartfelt than just pieces of happy Christmas verse. An example is a passage that begins:
“Write, write you bid me in your album write,
I heed the mandate to truth invite.”
It isn’t just love for each other that the correspondents declared. Love for the Island at Christmas is memorialized. This is from an original poem, dated 1851, most likely from a seafaring man, comparing Shelter Island to Eden:
“Few spots there are in this wide world
Where sin has found no home:
Yet I have found one wonderful place where it is scarcely known.
It is on Shelter Island: True friendship bloometh here
There is no room for sorrow, or reason for a tear …
I must leave your fair isle for places far away
And to it I may not return for many a weary day.
In arctic snow, in torrid heats, or in the Spanish west,
My spirit on fair Shelter Island will ever seek rest.”
Counter-balancing a lot of the dreamy romanticism are entries with a wicked sense of humor. One is a hilariously scathing verse about teaching, written by one of its practitioners who has come to a crossroad:
“To teach — or not to teach — that is the question,
Whether ‘tis nobler in the mind to suffer
Insults and impudence from outrageous brats
Or to resign this life of trouble,
And by resigning, end them.”
It goes on for another 25 lines, all written in an elegant hand.
Not fade away
The handwriting throughout the album is in ink, presented in what’s called a “fair copy,” or a painstaking and time-consuming final draft, with no scratch outs or emendations.
Which brings to mind what is lost and gained in the celebrations and gifts people in a technological age give or send to each other.
Not all has changed. Now and in times gone by, Christmas is not just a season marked on a calendar, but a permanent memory bank of holidays past, especially when the one remembering looks back happily on a simpler time.
Near the opening of Mr. Hoye’s Christmas album, someone wrote, in the fairest hand:
“Here, too, dwells simple truth,
Unsullied beauty,
Unbroken youth.”
Christmas 2020 letter: Act of charity, service is the best religion
Editor’s note: For many years, Maryknoll Fr. Bob McCahill has been sending an annual letter to friends at Christmastime, chronicling his experience living among the people of Bangladesh. Since 1984, NCR has published his annual letter in the Christmas issue. The following is an edited version of his 2020 letter.
Dear Friends,
Last year, my first year in Chandpur District, I expected (due to previous experiences) to be held in suspicion by many Muslims who supposed l had come to convert them to my Christian faith. Thus, they merely tolerated my presence among them. Now has begun my second year amidst them. Trust is growing, being built. Many are cooperating with me in my efforts to heal and make better the lives of children. In all the 13 districts I have lived since coming to Bangladesh 45 years ago, the first two years are characterized by a movement of peoples’ suspicion of me to trust in me and from toleration of me, to cooperation with me.
Jahangir, a poultry raiser (just 100 fowls; not quite on the scale of Iowa-Indiana) is glad to let me use his cell phone to make contact with parents of disabled children in his area. He sometimes helps me during my conversations on his phone because, frequently, I cannot understand what Bengali villagers say because they speak excitedly and so rapidly. Jahangir also recommends that I visit kids he knows are in need of hospital treatment, the very benefit I wish to provide.
When rain forced pedestrians on Chandpur town’s narrow sidewalk to seek dry refuge under shop awnings, I was invited into a store and given a stool to sit on. My benefactor was Shohidul Islam, a devout, prayer-cap wearing young man. As we conversed about religion, I emphasized the part played by prayer in the lives of both Muslims and Christians. Moreover, I pointed out that service to other persons is the fruit of true religion. I explained: “Shohidul, just as you have served me by giving me this stool to sit on, that too can be called a religious act.” His act of charity to me illustrated a Bengali maxim: “Service is the best religion.”
In a shoes store the red-bearded owner, Shams, was curious to learn why I work for children’s better health. He listened carefully, but skeptically, while I explained the God-given inspiration (when I was 19 years old) to spend my life as a missionary — a lifestyle not restricted to preaching, but rather, freed to serve persons in need. Jesus, a prophet in Islam, is Jesus, my model in life.
After I had spent much time to reach an island in the Meghna River, I still had to walk a bit to find Quddus, an incapacitated child. Sahel, a fast-pacing teenager, led the way. A dozen men and women gathered to hear me. Ayub Ali, the group’s spokesman, questioned me, and the group listened respectfully to my answers. The parents of Quddus feared going to the distant hospital I offered them. They know, however, they can call on me at any time if they decide to dare trusting in me. Was there any benefit in my visiting them? Perhaps they got a new idea about Christians and a bit more of trust in strangers.
We had agreed to meet by 9 a.m. at Block E of a hospital in Dhaka. They would come from a village six hours distant. After I had waited an extra hour for them, I was nervous. Farhad, a man unknown to me at that time, sensed my anxiety and volunteered to help me look for the absent ones. Without his help we may never have found one another. God blesses those who go out of their way to relieve others’ anxiety.
Although not much happens when I go there, I enjoy traveling an hour by bus to Shahrasti sub-district once a month. The government health complex personnel are attentive and supportive of what I am hoping to do for children. They cooperate whenever they can and steer me to needy children. One morning, I spent an hour searching for Fahim, age 5, whom I knew lived near the health complex, but I had forgotten the path to his home, so I lost some time. Correction: The time was not really lost. For people always notice when a stranger is genuinely solicitous for one of their own.
For several weeks, I had been unable to visit Shahebganj, the largest bazar on the “island” encircled by the Meghna River. A trawler delivered 30 of us there by 10 a.m. I walked to the homes of several children whom I had seen in previous months but found only one of them: Sumon. A teacher at the village school, Omar Farook, loaned us his loongi (sarong) so that Sumon could easily expose his crippled knees for a photograph. A generous man may give you the shirt off his back. Farook loaned us the loongi tied around his waist.
Two helpful teenagers, Ratool and Noori, helped me hunt for a home near village Dhali. Ratool is a recent high school graduate, and he was attracted to observe my dealing with a child’s mother. He likes to practice his English, called me an “ideal man,” and told me, “I want to follow you.” Then he questioned me: “What are you, a Muslim?” My single word reply: “Christian.” After a pause, Ratool admitted sadly: “But I thought you are a Muslim because you spoke the word. ‘Allah.’ ” Slowly, Ratool began to smile at his own narrow reasoning that only a person who calls the Creator “Allah” should be called ideal. How odd it is for us to allow people’s religious affiliation to influence our opinion of them.
I try to write about Bangladeshi Muslims (approximately 90% of the population) and Hindus ( around 10%) in a manner that stresses their good traits and the values they live by — for example: hospitality, and the love they have for their children. An optimistic view of them is generally true, so I refrain most of the time from describing irritants. Perhaps describing simple events and my thoughts about them will lead me to greater appreciation of people and of life. When I acknowledge the goodness of the people God places me among, gratitude becomes even more deeply rooted in my heart.
Fraternally,
Bob
UK and European Union reach Brexit deal ahead of crucial deadline
More than 1,600 days after the United Kingdom voted to leave the European Union, a final trade deal has been agreed that will avoid border and economic chaos on New Year’s Day.
Key points:
- Some 1,664 days since the 2016 Brexit referendum, a final trade deal has been agreed to by the UK an the European Union
- The deal will ensure tariff and quota free trade between the two that makes up half of nearly $1bn in yearly commerce
- The deal still needs approval from the UK parliament and the 27 EU member states
The deal brings an end to a four-year divorce period since the 2016 Brexit referendum, and signals the end of the UK’s membership in the European bloc it had been a part of since 1973.
The 500-page agreement will mean there are no quotas or tariffs on the goods trade that makes up half of the annual commerce between the UK and EU, worth more than $1 trillion.
European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen told a press conference in Brussels the deal was “fair” and “balanced”.
“It was a long and winding road,” she said.
“But we have got a good deal to show for it.
“It is fair, it is a balanced deal, and it is the right and responsible thing to do for both sides.”
British Prime Minister Boris Johnson tweeted a picture of himself inside Downing Street, raising both arms in a thumbs-up gesture of triumph, with the words: “The deal is done.”
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“We have taken back control of our destiny,” he said during a press conference at Downing Street.
“People said it was impossible, but we have taken back control.
“We will be an independent coastal state.
“We will be able to decide how and where to stimulate new jobs.”
Johnson hails ‘jumbo’ deal
Mr Johnson described the last-minute agreement as a “jumbo” free trade deal, along the lines of what was done between the European Union and Canada, and urged Britain to move on from the divisions caused by the 2016 referendum.
The deal will also support the peace in Northern Ireland, a priority for US president-elect Joe Biden, who had warned Mr Johnson that he must uphold the 1998 Good Friday Agreement.
EU member Ireland said the deal, which the European Commission website said would be published soon, protected its interests as well as could have possibly been hoped.
The trade deal will not cover services, which make up 80 per cent of the British economy, including a banking industry that positions London as the only financial capital to rival New York.
Access to the EU market for UK-based banks, insurers and asset managers will become patchy at best.
Mr Johnson said the deal did not contain as much as he would have liked on regulatory equivalence for financial services, but still contained some “good language”.
‘Parting is such sweet sorrow’
While both sides praised each other’s negotiators for sticking to their respective stances, Ms von der Leyen was much more sombre in her tone than Mr Johnson’s bullish optimism, even evoking a line from Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet.
“Ladies and gentlemen, at the end of a successful negotiation journey I normally feel joy,” she said.
“But today I only feel quiet satisfaction and frankly speaking, relief.
“I know this is a difficult day for some, and to our friends in the United Kingdom, I want to say parting is such sweet sorrow.”
Michel Barnier, the EU’s chief negotiator who had dealt with three different Brexit ministers and three different chief negotiators from the UK, echoed Ms von der Leyen’s sentiments.
“The clock is no longer ticking,” he said.
“Today is a day of relief.
“But tainted by some sadness, as we compare what came before with what lies ahead.”
He said the new deal was built around ambitious and equitable free trade, and an “unprecedented” economic and social partnership.
Deal delayed to the very end
A deal had seemed imminent for almost a day, until haggling over just how much fish EU boats should be able to catch in British waters delayed the announcement of one of the most important trade deals in recent European history.
Mr Barnier said Britain would have a new status as an independent coastal state, and new fishing quotas had been agreed between the EU and Britain.
“The European Union will stand beside its European fishermen, and will accompany them. That is our commitment,” he said.
Although the UK officially left the EU on January 31 this year, it has been in a transition period to negotiate a free trade deal for when Britain leaves the EU’s single market and customs union at midnight on December 31.
The 11-month transition period was to allow for negotiations on a free trade deal with the EU and its 27 member nations.
The UK Parliament will be recalled on December 30 to vote on the deal, which will likely pass with support from the opposition Labour party, while EU ambassadors from all 27 member states will meet on Christmas Day to review it.
Mr Johnson could still face a backlash from members of his own Conservative Party, with MPs from the Eurosceptic European Research Group likely to closely examine the deal and take issue with any perceived concessions from the UK side on disputed areas such as fishing rights and business competition.
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Brexit deal explained: What is at stake for the UK and European Union
Written by Rahel Philipose
, Edited by Explained Desk | New Delhi |
Updated: December 24, 2020 10:49:16 pm
, Edited by Explained Desk | New Delhi |
Updated: December 24, 2020 10:49:16 pm
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</span><span class="custom-caption"> <span class="ie-custom-caption">The two sides are attempting to strike a deal to define the terms of their future relationship ahead of a December-31 deadline. (File Photo)</span></span>Following overnight<a href="https://indianexpress.com/article/world/last-minute-uk-eu-post-brexit-trade-deal-in-the-works/" rel="nofollow"><strong> negotiations between the United Kingdom and the European Union</strong></a> at European Commission’s headquarters in Brussels, Britain and the European Union struck a provisional free-trade agreement as part of the <strong><a href="https://indianexpress.com/article/world/uk-and-eu-reach-post-brexit-trade-agreement-7118765/" class="" rel="nofollow">Brexit deal,</a></strong> four and a half years after Britain decided to leave the bloc.
The two sides attempted to strike a deal to define the terms of their future relationship ahead of a December-31 deadline, when the UK’s post-Brexit transition period officially ends.
There is a lot riding on a successful Brexit deal for both the EU and the UK. By striking a zero-tariff and zero-quota deal, they will be able to safeguard the trade of goods between the UK and the EU, which amounts to around $1 trillion annually.
What is the Brexit deal and why is it needed?
After it formally exited the European Union on January 31 this year, the United Kingdom entered a 11-month transition period during which it continued to follow EU rules. This was when the country began negotiating a deal with the bloc to determine key aspects of their relationship — including a viable trade agreement, defence, security and immigration once the transition phase ended.
However, talks stretched on as both sides were unable to agree on major points — fishing rights, governance, and guaranteeing a ‘level playing field’ on government subsidies and regulations.
A level playing field essentially means that in order to trade with the EU’s single market, the UK will have to follow the same rules and regulations to ensure that it does not have an unfair advantage over other EU businesses. But with or without a Brexit deal, the UK will be exiting the EU’s single market and customs union by the end of the year.
The deal is also likely to lay down rules of governance, which will dictate how any deal is enforced as well as the penalties that will be imposed if one party violates the terms of a mutually-approved agreement.
The UK will also have to agree on how it will cooperate with the bloc on issues pertaining to security and law enforcement once it officially withdraws from the European Arrest Warrant on January 1, next year. Further, the two parties will have to finalise agreements on issues like airline safety and information sharing.
But, why is fishing such a big deal?
While fishing is a relatively small part of the economy on both sides of the English Channel (fishing was just 0.02 per cent of the overall economy both in the UK and in the EU), the issue is extremely emotive and its political consequences far outweigh the economic impact on both sides.
For the EU, access for its boats is an important precondition for a trade agreement, while in Britain, the Brexit cheerleaders peddled it as a symbol of sovereignty that needed to be regained.
Even though Britain formally left the EU on January 31, 2020, the country still has to adhere to the EU’s rules until the end of the year, including the bloc’s Common Fisheries Policy. So, till then, the fishing fleets of every country involved have full access to each other’s waters, going well beyond the territorial water that covers the first 12 nautical miles (22km) from the coast. But the volume of fish, depending on the species, are to be claimed by each country as per a complex national quota regime that has been formulated using historical data going back to the 1970s.
The British fishing industry has maintained that it got a raw deal in this quota distribution. That’s why the UK government wants to increase the British quota share significantly, even as EU negotiators have been pushing Britain to continue to allow their fishing crews to have access to its waters.
The EU, meanwhile, wants to divide the amounts of fish that each country’s boats are allowed to catch in a way that will not be renegotiated every year. EU’s chief negotiator Michel Barnier has said in the past that annual negotiations with the UK would be technically impossible because so many different types of fish would be involved.
What is the political trigger for the fight over fish?
During the 2016 Brexit referendum campaign, Boris Johnson was among the faction of Conservative leaders who had pledged that if Britain were to leave the EU, they would get back control over their national waters. Now, with Johnson at 10 Downing Street, Britain feels obligated to make an unambiguous assertion that any new agreement on fisheries has to be based on the affirmation of “British fishing grounds” being “first and foremost for British boats”.
According to a Financial Times report, the issue of control over fishing jurisdictions is resonant in France as well, especially given that President Emmanuel Macron faces an election in 2022. French fleets, in particular, depend on fish caught in British waters.
Where does the deal stand now?
After months of arduous negotiations, UK PM Boris Johnson is expected to announce the final Brexit deal later today. Officials in Brussels are believed to be finalising the details of the deal that will come into force on January 1, 2021, BBC reported.
According to reports, the two sides have agreed to a largely tariff and quota-free trade arrangement, but this does not necessarily ensure frictionless trade as businesses had hoped.
“Brexit work would continue throughout the night. Grabbing some sleep is recommended to all Brexit-watchers at this point,” Eric Mamer, the chief spokesperson for European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, tweeted on Wednesday night. “It will hopefully be an early start tomorrow [Thursday] morning.”
But even if a deal is reached and it gets support from all 27 EU leaders in the European Council, it will still have to be ratified before the transition ends. In the UK, MPs are on standby as they may be recalled to parliament once the deal is ready to be approved.
The agreement will then have to be ratified on the EU side, where it otherwise takes several months and sometimes even years to clear a trade deal. To work around this, leaders may decide to apply a deal provisionally before the European Parliament holds a formal ratification vote next year. Depending on its contents, it may even have to be approved by national EU parliaments, BBC reported.
What is at stake?
Failure to strike a deal before the December 31 deadline would result in a no-deal Brexit, which could have far- reaching ramifications both domestically and internationally. No deal is also likely to sever the already-tense relations between the UK and EU for some time.
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Farm Laws, Fertility And Religion
Mohkam Singh, a 65-year-old farmer from the Khalsa warrior community of Ludhiana, radiates a quiet conviction.
“What you see here is a Sachh Yug,” says Singh just outside a tent at the Singhu border. “Outside, there’s a Kal Yug where people are fighting to prove which religion is greater.”
Protesting farmers such as Mohkam are not only against the Centre’s new farm laws but are also against the erosion of the spiritual identity of agricultural communities across India. At both Singhu and Tikri borders, we witnessed a cry from farmers for recognition of their sacred relationship with the soil. For them, execution of the laws will not only play into the hands of private merchants but also disrupt their identity as “toilers and givers of grain.”
Not only that, the farming communities believe they are humanity’s call to conscience in the fight against climate change. Undermining them could shrink the scope of a collective movement towards a greener and more spiritually conscious planet.
While demonstrations, poetry readings, film screenings and ladles of generosity at langars have been highlighted as the means to surcharge the community spirit at these protest sites, it’s also important to understand the religious underpinnings of the farmers’ protests.
In the expansive demonstration spaces we visited last week, we saw the critical role of religion in informing this grassroots movement. The Nihang Sikhs, for instance, with their ornamental attires and displays of martial skills are here to set a different tone from a purely ceremonial one. Part-farmers, part-religious leaders, they believe the protests are a reassertion of the rights of the underclasses—farmers, women and religious minorities—while they are there to merely provide the spiritual impetus in this “holy land.”
The Nihangs asserted that the political leadership has undermined the solidity of the movement shaped by eclectic traditions from Punjab and Haryana, along with interfaith work.
Muslims from Punjab’s Malerkotla district, who have been helping the farmers since the inception of these protests, have now set up community kitchens on the borders. In return, Sikh farmers are rallying around their Muslim brethren during prayer rituals. A Muslim man from Malerkotla told me the only religion at these protests is the urge to stand together.
Around these sites, Christian trusts and philanthropists are doling out free medicines to ailing farmers and their families. Trolleys and vans with banners announcing interfaith work by Christian charitable organizations suggest this isn’t a one-dimensional movement.
At the community kitchens, Sikh women can be found flipping rotis beside Hindu woman sorting vegetables for the day’s langar. A few steps ahead, Muslims are preparing Biryani.
While the memories of the resilience of anti-CAA protestors across religious lines have invigorated the protests this year, the farmers want to keep their movement exclusive.
“The farm laws will tear apart the entire country,” said Mata Singh, a Sikh farmer. “Farming is fertility, and these laws will disrupt the cycle of life if they’re allowed to pass.”
Even the women have joined the chorus. They believe the protests are not just against the laws, but also against the upturning of the social and spiritual identities of farming women.
“Discrediting our value in the ecosystem is like discrediting the importance of tribal and agricultural deities across spiritual traditions,” they noted.
The farming women were especially critical of the inaction over the deaths at these protests, including that of Haryana-based Sikh priest Baba Ram Singh, who shot himself near Singhu “to express anger and pain against the government’s injustice.”
As the protests surge and the crackdowns escalate, more interfaith and community support groups will join to free the movement of the idea that it’s pandering to specific groups or communities. More religious leaders from different parts of India are already on their way to set up camp here.
It’s clear this isn’t just a reaction to the anti-farmer farm laws. This is a moment in time when political, social and spiritual forces have converged under unprecedented circumstances.
(Priyadarshini Sen is an Independent Journalist based in Delhi. She writes for Indian and US-based media. Views expressed are personal and do not necessarily reflect those of Outlook Magazine.)
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