British Prime Minister Theresa May has expressed optimism following the approval of her Brexit deal by twenty-seven leaders of the European Union (EU).
TheNewsGuru (TNG) reports the Brexit deal seeks to end free movement once and fall, with a new skills-based immigration system.
The deal also seeks a free trade area with the EU for goods, with no tariffs, which protects United Kingdom (UK) jobs; no more sending vast sums of money to the EU, meaning the UK can spend it on NHS.
It will signal end of the jurisdiction of the European Court of Justice in the UK, meaning Britain will be able to control its own laws; protecting the rights of citizens living in the UK and UK citizens living in the EU.
The UK will then have the ability to strike trade deals with other countries; have a close relationship on defence, tackling crime and terrorism to keep people safe; and also leaving the Common Agricultural Policy and Common Fisheries Policy.
“The British do not want to spend any more time arguing about Brexit. They want a good deal done, that fulfills the vote and allows us to come together again as a country.
“So, I will take this deal back to the House of Commons confident we have achieved the best deal available and full of optimism about the future of our country.
“In parliament and beyond it, I will make the case for this deal with all my heart and I look forward to that campaign,” said May.
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The European Council (EC) endorsed the agreement on the withdrawal of the UK and Northern Ireland from the EU and the European Atomic Energy Community, following the special meeting that finalized and formalized the outcome of the Brexit negotiations in Brussels on Sunday.
The twenty-seven EU leaders approved the two key Brexit documents: the EU Withdrawal Agreement and the Political Declaration.
The Withdrawal Agreement ensures that the rights of citizens are fully protected, and the peace process in Northern Ireland is not affected, and that the UK will continue its payments to the EU budget during the transition period and legal certainty will be secured.
TNG reports the EC approved the Political Declaration setting out the framework for the future relationship between the European Union and the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland.
On this basis, the EC invited the Commission, the European Parliament and the Council to take the necessary steps to ensure that the agreement can enter into force on 30 March 2019, so as to provide for an orderly withdrawal.
The Council restates the Union’s determination to have as close as possible a partnership with the United Kingdom in the future in line with the Political Declaration.
“The Union’s approach will continue to be defined by the overall positions and principles set out in the previously agreed European Council’s guidelines. The European Council will remain permanently seized of the matter,” the EC said in a statement.
The Council thanked Michel Barnier for his tireless efforts as the Union’s chief negotiator and for his contribution to maintaining the unity among EU27 Member States throughout the negotiations on the withdrawal of the United Kingdom from the European Union.
President of the EC, Donald Tusk, in his remarks after the special meeting of the EC on Sunday, said the EU and the (UK) will continue to maintain cordial relationships, prior and after 30 March 2019.
The EC President, however, noted that the process of ratification as well as further negotiations for the Brexit deal might be difficult.
“Ahead of us is the difficult process of ratification as well as further negotiations,” he said, adding: “But regardless of how it will all end, one thing is certain: we will remain friends until the end of days, and one day longer”.
Meanwhile, former British Prime Minister Tony Blair, while speaking on Marr on Sunday morning, had called the Brexit deal dodo.
“The problem is, the deal’s a dodo,” Blair stated, while stressing that he has respect for Prime Minister Theresa May.
“The central question here is if it’s not a deal which satisfies the people who voted Brexit, why on earth are we doing it?
“The only way you’re going to unite the country is to take it back to the people. The Prime Minister’s deal has only succeeded in uniting people in opposition to it,” he further stated.
In an article, Blair had earlier said the departure of Britain from the European Union (EU) will diminish the weight of Europe.
“Since the referendum, we have had 2 and a half years of negotiation and discovered there are many varieties of Brexit.
“The choice is between a painful Brexit and a pointless Brexit – that’s the issue we’ve had the whole way through. This isn’t what the people who voted to Leave voted for,” he said.