Ursula von der Leyen and Charles Michel sign document seven days before exit day
Sombre EU
leaders sign Brexit withdrawal agreement
Daniel
Boffey in Brussels
Fri 24 Jan
2020 09.39 GMTLast modified on Fri 24 Jan 2020 12.59 GMT
A sombre
Ursula von der Leyen and Charles Michel, the leaders of the European commission
and council respectively, have formally signed the withdrawal agreement as
Brussels prepares for the UK’s departure from the EU in seven days’ time.
In
photographs made available of the signing ceremony in the EU’s Europa building
on Friday morning, the bloc’s chief negotiator, Michel Barnier, can be seen
standing behind the two presidents.
Michel, who
as president of the European council will now chair meetings of 27 rather than
28 heads of state and government at the regular summits in the Belgian capital,
said in a short statement: “Things will inevitably change but our friendship
will remain. We start a new chapter as partners and allies.”
Von der
Leyen tweeted: “Charles Michel and I have just signed the agreement on the
withdrawal of the UK from the EU, opening the way for its ratification by the
European parliament.”
The signed
copy of the agreement was sent in a diplomatic bag to Downing Street for the
prime minister’s signature. On Thursday the withdrawal agreement received royal
assent from the Queen.
The
document, which runs to nearly 600 pages, includes agreements on citizens’
rights, the UK’s £33bn worth of financial obligations to the bloc and the
Northern Ireland protocol, establishing the arrangements for maintaining an
open border on the island of Ireland.
The
European parliament’s constitutional affairs committee backed the agreement on
Thursday by 23 votes to three, setting up the final act next week when a
plenary session of the EU parliament will vote to ratify the deal.
Under the
agreement, the UK will leave the EU at midnight central European time on 31
January. The UK will remain in the EU’s single market and customs union, but
none of the decision-making bodies, until the end of 2020.
Boris
Johnson has said he will not take the option available to him in the withdrawal
agreement of extending this transition period. The prime minister has said the
11-month period available without further extension is “ample” time to reach
agreement on a comprehensive deal.
The EU’s
negotiating position, known as a mandate, is due to be adopted on 25 February
by EU ministers attending a general affairs council, and formal negotiations
will then begin on the future relationship.
A political
declaration on the outlines of the future relationship, which has already been
given the political seal of approval in London and the EU capitals, will set
the parameters of the talks as the two negotiating teams seek to replace the
terms of the UK’s 45-year membership with new arrangements.
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