The European Parliament also has to sign the agreement, but is not expected to do so for several weeks.
The British House of Commons voted emphatically for approval on Wednesday a trade agreement with the European Unionand paves the way for an orderly break with the block that will finally complete this Britain’s year-long Brexit trip.
Also read: Boris Johnson warns that there is a strong possibility of a no-deal Brexit
Legislators only had one day left and voted 521-73 in favor of the deal signed last week between the UK government and the EU.
It will become British law once it goes through the unelected House of Lords later in the day and receives formal royal approval from Queen Elizabeth II.
Britain left the EU almost a year ago, but remained in the bloc’s economic embrace during a transitional period ending Thursday midnight Brussels time – 11 p.m. in London.
The President of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, and the President of the European Council, Charles Michel, signed the agreement during a brief ceremony in Brussels on Wednesday morning. The documents were then flown to London on a Royal Air Force plane for British Prime Minister Boris Johnson to add his signature.
“The agreement we signed today is the result of months of intense negotiations in which the European Union has shown an unprecedented level of unity,” said Michel. “It is a fair and balanced agreement that unreservedly protects the fundamental interests of the European Union and creates stability and predictability for citizens and companies.”
The European Parliament also has to sign the agreement, but is not expected to do so for several weeks.
Also read: Here is a chronology of Brexit
Shortly after top EU officials officially signed the hard-won deal in Brussels, Mr Johnson urged House of Commons lawmakers to support an agreement that he believes heralds “a new relationship between Britain and the EU as equals”.
It’s been four and a half years since the UK voted 52% to 48% to leave the bloc Brexit started on January 31 of this year, but the real impact of that decision has not yet been felt as the UK’s economic relationship with the EU remained unchanged during the 11-month transition period ending in December. 31.
That will change on New Years Day. The agreement, which was drawn up after more than nine months of tense negotiations and sealed on Christmas Eve, will ensure that the UK and the EU can continue to trade goods with 27 states without tariffs or quotas. This should help protect the £ 660 billion ($ 894 billion) annual trade between the two sides and the hundreds of thousands of jobs that depend on it.
However, the end of Britain’s membership in the EU’s vast internal market and customs union will still bring inconvenience and new costs for both individuals and businesses – from the need for tourists to have travel insurance to the millions of new customs declarations, the companies must fill out.
Also read: Great Britain and Turkey reach a free trade agreement after Brexit
Brexit supporters, including Mr Johnson, say short-term pain will be worth it.
Mr Johnson said the Brexit deal would turn the UK from a “half-hearted, sometimes obstructive member of the EU” to “a friendly neighbor – the best friend and ally the EU could have”.
He said Britain will now “trade and cooperate with our European neighbors under the closest conditions of friendship and goodwill, while maintaining sovereign control over our laws and our national destinies”.
Some lawmakers grumbled that they only have five hours in Parliament to review a 1,200-page deal that will mean profound changes to the UK economy and society. However, it is very likely that support will be given to the House of Commons, where Mr Johnson’s Conservative Party has a large majority.
The party’s powerful Eurosceptic wing, which fought for years for the seemingly long-term goal of removing Britain from the EU, has backed the deal.
The Scottish National Party, which is strongly responsible for the EU, and the Liberal Democrats voted against the law. But the main opposition Labor Party, which had sought a closer relationship with the bloc, said it would vote for the deal because even a thin deal is better than a chaotic no-deal break.
“We only have a day before the end of the transition period and it’s the only deal we have,” said union leader Keir Starmer. “It’s a foundation that we can build on for years to come.”
Former Prime Minister Theresa May, who resigned in parliament in 2019 after three years of Brexit rigor, said she would vote for Mr Johnson’s approval. But she said it was worse than what she negotiated with the bloc, which lawmakers repeatedly refused to do.
She noted that the agreement protected trade in goods but did not cover services, which make up 80% of the UK economy.
“We have a trade deal that benefits the EU, but not a service deal that the UK would have benefited from,” Ms. May said.
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