UK ratifies post-Brexit deal, completing EU exit

After a brief debate, MPs in the House of Commons voted overwhelmingly to approve the post-Brexit trade deal with the EU on December 24, with 521 votes in favor and 73 against. The groups opposing the deal were the Northern Ireland Democratic Unionist Party (DUP), the Scottish National Party (SNP) and a small group of MPs from the Liberal Democrats (Libs-Dem).

Sign the official agreementBritish Prime Minister Boris Johnson praised this as a great achievement for Britain, as it retains access to the European single market while being free to implement its own policies.

“The UK can now implement policies in a different way, can find other ways to be more competitive but at the same time retain access to the European market. In fact, this deal is on much better terms than the trade agreement that the EU has with Canada because it has no tariffs and no limits,” Prime Minister Johnson stressed.

Before the British government and Parliament approved the post-Brexit trade agreement, on December 30, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen and European Council President Charles Michel also signed the official agreement document and sent it to the British side.

Currently, the only remaining procedure for the European side is the ratification of the European Parliament. However, as it is currently on holiday and it is likely that the European Parliament will not meet in Strasbourg until the end of January 2021 or the beginning of February 2021 to approve the agreement, the EU and the UK have agreed to temporarily apply the entire agreement from January 1, 2021./.