LondonNot that anyone can tell from this month’s excitement about negotiations for a Brexit trade deal, but Britain’s departure from the European Union is already done.
It’s done in the technical sense that the U.K. left the bloc on Jan. 31. More important, it’s done as a political issue—and British politicians increasingly seem to realize it.It’s sometimes hard to see this evolution when Europe is preoccupied with the spectacle of yet another round of trade talks going down to the wire.
The transitional trade agreement effected on Britain’s Jan. 31 departure will expire Dec. 31, and Brussels and London haven’t agreed on what will come after it.