EU Parliament closes another Brexit chapter by ratifying the Brexit deal with the United Kingdom

The European Parliament on Wednesday ratified the trade and cooperation agreement between the European Union (EU) and the United Kingdom, a step that concludes four years of negotiations between London and Brussels and four months of parliamentary scrutiny of the final pact and brings the UK's 47 years in the EU club to a definitive close. The vote went ahead by 660 votes in favour, 5 against and 32 abstentions.

The pact is therefore ready to enter into force definitively in the coming days, a step that does not change the 'status quo' of the rules that have been applied since the British disconnection in January, but it does eliminate the possibility of a Brexit without agreement.

Parliament's vote comes after four months of scrutiny by MEPs of a deal that negotiators from London and Brussels managed to conclude on Christmas Eve evening 2020 after less than a year of intense talks between the two teams, in the midst of a pandemic.

In record time, the teams led by Michel Barnier and David Frost were able to reach a deal that resolved the thorny issues of a level playing field on both sides of the Channel and the fisheries sector, the biggest obstacles to finding consensus for 2020.

Following the evening of December 24, and although the British House of Commons did agree to review the agreement before the end of 2020, the European Parliament refused to speed up the scrutiny to approve the pact in less than a week so that it would enter into force on January 1, the first day with the UK completely disengaged from EU structures.

MEPs have used these four months, with the pact provisionally applied to avoid a no-deal exit scenario, to scrutinise paragraph by paragraph a treaty that defines the relationship between the two after Brexit and marks a major step backwards in the quality of that link after nearly half a century of UK membership of the EU.

MEPs also passed an accompanying resolution calling the Brexit a "historic mistake" and recognising that the deal struck succeeds in protecting the rights of European citizens, peace on the island of Ireland, fishing communities, the EU legal order and the autonomy of the EU's decision-making power.

“The EU has always respected the UK’s decision while insisting that the UK must also accept the consequences of leaving the EU and that a third country cannot have the same rights and benefits as member states,” say MEPs.

They also warned again about one of the causes of the delay in Parliament's approval of the agreement: the UK's unilateral breaches of the withdrawal agreement and, in particular, the protocol regulating the special situation of the island of Ireland, with part of its territory in the EU and part in the UK.

As Brussels and London continue their dialogue over the UK's decision to unilaterally extend the agreed duration of a specific customs measure in Northern Ireland, MEPs called on the Commission not to hesitate to apply trade restrictive measures, such as quotas or tariffs, if the UK continues to violate the agreed clauses.

"We do not trust Boris Johnson's government," said Manfred Weber, the leader of the European People's Party (EPP), who insisted that the Commission must "use all tools to ensure proper implementation of the TCA & avoid further violence in Northern Ireland".

The chair of the Social Democrats in the European Parliament, Spanish MEP Iratxe García, said that Brexit "represents the great lie of the British right" and called for a reflection "on how damaging voluntary isolationism can be.". "For our part, we must extend a hand of loyal friendship and we must do everything possible to develop a constructive partnership," she added.

"The first trade deal in history to put up barriers & remove freedoms? A failure for both sides, but better than nothing. I still believe one day an ambitious young politician will want the UK to lead in the EU again," Liberal MEP Guy Verhofstadt tweeted.