EU Parliament clears way for Brexit on Friday
Britain’s departure from the European Union was backed by European lawmakers Wednesday, after a debate that mixed warm words of love with warnings to the country not to seek too many concessions during upcoming trade talks on a future relationship.
The European Parliament overwhelmingly approved Britain’s departure terms from the EU — the final major decision in the fouryear Brexit saga. The vote was 621-49 in favor of the Brexit deal that British Prime Minister Boris Johnson negotiated with the other 27 EU leaders in the fall of last year.
While backing Britain’s departure in the wake of the country’s vote to leave in a referendum in June 2016, EU countries are already preparing for the possibility that talks on a new trade deal with Britain could collapse by the end of the year.
After Britain’s departure on Friday, the U.K. will remain within the EU’s economic arrangements until the end of the year though it won’t have a say in policy as it will not be a member of the EU anymore.
“We will always love you and you will never be far,” said EU Commission President Ursula von der Leyen on a day when some legislators were moved to tears.
Britain is the first country to leave the EU and for many in Europe its official departure at 11 p.m. London time on Friday is a moment of enormous sadness and reduces the number in the bloc to 27.
The parliament’s chief Brexit official, Guy Verhofstadt, said that “this vote is not an adieu,” adding that it is “only an au revoir.”
With only two days to spare, legislators approved the withdrawal agreement that will end the 47-year membership of Britain. At the same time, the vote cut the 73 U.K. parliamentarians from the 751-seat legislature where die-hard Brexiteers have been a disruptive force for years.
“That’s it. It’s all over,” said Nigel Farage, who has campaigned for Brexit for two decades. On departing the scene, the man who arguably did more than anyone else to move the country to vote for Brexit waved Britain’s Union Flag.