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British Prime Minister Boris Johnson has signed a Brexit trade agreement with the European Union, adding his signature to those of EU leaders following the transfer of the document from Brussels to London.
“Did I read it? The answer is yes.”Johnson said.
“By signing this agreement, we are fulfilling the sovereign wish of the British to live by their own laws enacted by the elected parliament.”he wrote on Twitter after signing the 1,246-page document.
He had previously told parliament that the deal would allow the UK to retain its sovereignty after Brexit and “trade and cooperate with the bloc under the closest possible conditions.”
Hours earlier, the presidents of the European Council and the European Commission, Charles Michel and Ursula von der Leyen, signed the EU-UK trade agreement in Brussels.
The document was then sent to London by a Royal Air Force plane.
The British House of Commons has voted vigorously in favor of a trade deal with the EU, paving the way for an organized “divorce” with the Commonwealth, which will ultimately end Britain’s long journey towards Brexit, the Associated Press reported.
Just one day before the deadline, MEPs agreed with 521 votes to 73 on the agreement reached between the UK government and the EU last week.
It will become British law after receiving official royal approval from Queen Elizabeth II.
The United Kingdom left the EU almost a year ago, but remained in the bloc’s economic zone during a transition period that ends tomorrow at midnight Brussels time or 23:00 London time, AP recalls.
British Prime Minister Boris Johnson commented that the New Year will bring “new relations between Britain and the EU as equal sovereigns”.
The treaty will apply from January 1 of next year with prior effect, until its final approval by the European and British Parliaments.
The EC expects the preliminary action to take effect at the end of February, and MEPs insisted last week on a few more days to be able to vote on the deal in March.
The trade deal was announced on December 24 and sets the terms for Britain’s new relationship with the EU following their divorce, which took place in late January this year.
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