The bill to remove Britain from the European Union (EU) finally passed in the House of Commons today, global media reported today (Jan 10). Downing Street said that the government was now ready to begin negotiations for a deal to be in place by December.
End of last year, Prime Minister Boris Johnson bring Brexit into law that the country will leave the the Eurozone in 2020 and will not extend the transition period. His move to make the manifesto promise legally binding was mooted during the election campaign.
Under the premier’ plan, United Kingdom (UK) is to leave the EU on Jan. 31 once the bill passes. During this period, the country is expected to leave the customs union and single market and enter new negotiated arrangements but will follow most EU law like other member states but will not have voting rights in the institutions.
There has been provided for both to jointly agree, on a one-off basis, to extend that period by a further period of up to two years, under article 132 of the withdrawal agreement, which was hugely unpopular with some Conservative MPs keen on a hard Brexit on World Trade Organization terms.
While it is understood in Brussels that Johnson was unlikely to ask to extend the transition period, senior sources have suggested the EU itself could have sought to take the political pain out of such a move by asking for extra time. Officials in Brussels have discussed such an option in recent days but the prime minister’ initiative would remove that safety net.
In the meeting with Ursula von der Leyen, the president of EU, Prime Minister Boris Johson said, that his immediate priority was to implement the Withdrawal Agreement by Jan. 31. Both leaders also discussed the progress of ratification in the UK and in the European Parliament.
