Brexit ratified by EU

Tears, singing mark EU parliament’s signing of divorce papers

BRITAIN’S departure from the European Union was set in law on Wednesday as, amid emotional scenes, the bloc’s parliament voted to ratify the divorce papers.

After half a century of sometimes awkward membership and three years of tense withdrawal talks, the UK will leave the EU at midnight Brussels time on Friday – tomorrow morning Australian time.

MEPs voted by 621 votes to 49 to pass the withdrawal agreement, which sees Britain leave the EU institutions but remain under most EU rules during a transition until the end of the year.

Following the vote, MEPs burst into a chorus of Auld Lang

Syne, a traditional Scottish song of farewell.

The transition will see Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s government try to negotiate an ambitious – unprecedented in the time frame – free trade agreement with his 27 former partners remaining in the bloc.

“Only in the agony of parting do we look into the depth of love,” EU Commission president Ursula von der Leyen told the chamber, quoting British author George Eliot. “We will always love you and we will never be far. Long live Europe.”

In other words, as French Foreign Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian said: “The hardest part lies ahead … we’re going to get down to brass tacks now.”

Many MEPs made it clear that they were voting for the withdrawal deal not out of any support for Brexit, but to avoid the disruption of a chaotic nodeal divorce. Some expressed real anguish and regret, and pointed to Britain’s role not only in the development of the European unification project but also to its historic battles.

Iratxe Garcia Perez, the Spanish leader of the Socialist group, choked back tears as she said farewell to her British Labour Party comrades.

After Brexit, the UK will be what the EU calls a “third country”, outside the union, but the political and economic drama will continue.