Brexit now official
Diplomats from other 27 members give unanimous OK
A woman waves British and European Union flags Thursday at the Grand Place in Brussels during an event to celebrate the friendship between Belgium and Britain. Meanwhile, the European Union gave unanimous approval for Britain’s exit from the EU, ending 47 years of integration with the continent. More photos at arkansasonline.com/131brexit./
LONDON — The European Union gave its final, formal approval to Brexit on Thursday, clearing the way for Britain to reverse 47 years of integration with the continent and leave the bloc tonight.
After a vote in the European Parliament on Wednesday, the governments of the 27 countries still in the union gave a unanimous seal of approval to Britain’s withdrawal, officially ending nearly four years of wrangling over whether, when and how it would happen.
Diplomats from the remaining member countries were given instructions over email Wednesday night for the withdrawal agreement to take effect: Answer these four procedural questions with “yes,” “no” or “abstain” and send them in an email to the European Council, which represents the nation’s leaders.
On Thursday afternoon, the replies came in. All member states answered “yes” to all the questions, a European Union official said.
“The council has adopted, by written procedure, the decision on the conclusion of the withdrawal agreement on behalf of the EU,” the European Council said in a brief statement.
“The withdrawal agreement will enter into force upon the U.K.’s exit from the EU, on 31 January 2020 at midnight CET,” it added. “From that time on, the U.K. will no longer be an EU member state and will be considered as a third country.”
In Brussels, some of the next steps will be just as formal, before the negotiations on the future relationship between the European Union and Britain go into full swing.
Place Luxembourg, the square in front of the European Parliament, will be taken over by Brexit-related celebrations and commiserations Thursday night, and Brexit-themed events are filling up the weekend’s social calendar.
The city of Brussels said that it would light up Grand Place, the ornate square in the heart of the Belgian capital, Thursday afternoon, putting on a light show with the colors of the British flag to honor the departing nation.
British flags will be removed from European Union buildings, and the EU flag will be lowered outside the British delegation’s offices, which will be renamed from “United Kingdom Permanent Representation to the European Union” to “United Kingdom Embassy to the European Union.”
For many Britons living in towns and villages across Europe, the stroke of midnight tonight will mean losing the right to vote and run for office.
From being active participants in the communities where they have sunk roots and pay taxes, British expatriates in France, Germany and elsewhere in the European Union will suddenly find themselves on the outside, with no say.
The right for all EU nationals to vote and stand in municipal elections where they live, even if they’re not citizens of that country, was enshrined in the 1992 Maastricht Treaty that established the EU.
But rules in Europe are not uniform for non-EU citizens, which is what Britons will become after tonight. Some countries allow non-EU citizens to vote in municipal elections. So even after Brexit, Britons should still have a voice at the local level in Denmark, Finland, Sweden, the Netherlands and in two cities in Slovakia. In Finland, they will need to have been residents for two years, while the residency requirement is five years in the Netherlands.
Britain has been negotiating directly with other EU nations to extend the ability of British expatriates to vote and run for office after Brexit. The British government says it has deals with Spain, Portugal and Luxembourg and is continuing talks with others. It says British expats should also still be able to vote locally in Belgium, Estonia, Ireland, Lithuania, Malta and Slovenia.
But they’ll no longer be able to vote or stand locally in France, which has tens of thousands of long-term British residents and many more part-time residents of vacation homes.
The French Interior Ministry says 757 Britons serve on municipal councils, more than any other expatriate group. They will keep their seats until municipal elections in March, but they’ll not be able to run or vote then if they haven’t gotten French citizenship.