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Now the British Parliament has to approve the treaty
© APA / AFP
Britain’s House of Commons voted on Wednesday in favor of the Brexit trade pact between Britain and the European Union. Members of the first chamber, the House of Commons, voted overwhelmingly for Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s ratification bill. However, the law probably shouldn’t go into effect until after midnight, when the House of Lords has voted in favor and Queen Elizabeth II has given her formal approval.
The House of Commons on Wednesday voted 521 to 73 to pass the bill. It is true that the law will also find a majority in the second chamber, the House of Lords. The agreement will initially enter into force on a provisional basis at the end of the year, because the EU Parliament has yet to approve it in 2021. The European Parliament wants to examine the text carefully.
EU leaders signed the Brexit trade pact this morning. After the head of the EU Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, and the President of the EU Council, Charles Michel, signed the document, it was flown to London on a plane belonging to the British Air Force and was to be delivered there to Prime Minister Johnson.
The nearly 1,250-page trade and association agreement regulates economic relations after the transition phase of Brexit from January 1. This avoids fees and keeps friction losses in retail as low as possible. At the same time, many other issues are regulated, including fisheries and cooperation on energy, transport, justice, police.
“At the center of this bill is one of the largest free trade agreements in the world,” Johnson said at the beginning of the debate in the House of Commons in London. It will allow companies to intensify trade with the EU, the head of government said. Opposition leader Keir Starmer of the Labor Party, for his part, described the deal as “thin” and “flawed.” However, it is better than a no-deal, which would lead to price increases and push companies to the limit of existence, which is why his party wanted to vote for the bill.
EU Council President Michel praised the agreement as fair and balanced. It protects the interests of the European Union and creates stability and reliability for citizens and businesses, Michel explained. The EU will continue to stand by the UK’s side on important issues such as climate protection and the global fight against pandemics.
Former Prime Minister Theresa May also welcomed the deal, but criticized that it only regulates trade in goods and not trade in services, which is important to Britain. The exit agreement he negotiated in spring 2019 provided better conditions, but at that time the opposition voted against, complained. May had failed her deal three times in the House of Commons and then had to resign.
Britain and the EU had only agreed to the treaty on Christmas Eve. Britain had already left the EU at the end of January 2020, and membership in the EU internal market and customs union will also end in the New Year.
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