-With EU’s part in Brexit complete, it of U.K. parliament
The long and bumpy journey of the U.K. leaving the EU came to an important milestone this weekend. Despite the weak support for Prime Minister Theresa May’s deal at home, leaders of the EU countries met in Brussels on Sunday to finalize the U.K.’s departure and approved the deal, defending it by saying it is the best the U.K. can get out of the block. Twenty-seven members of the European Union approved the Brexit deal, the European Council President Donald Tusk announced on Sunday.
'EU27 has endorsed the Withdrawal Agreement and Political Declaration on the future EU-U.K. relations,' Tusk wrote in a Twitter post.
Following the meeting, the council said in a statement that it invited EU’s institutions, including the European Parliament, 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 European 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 statement read.
The House of Commons will vote on the withdrawal agreement and the political declaration before Christmas, May said on Sunday.
Speaking at a news conference in Brussels, May once again defended the deal reached with the EU and declared it was the only deal available. She said that Sunday was the culmination of a long and difficult process but the start of a 'crucial national debate' adding that she was 'confident we have achieved the best deal.'
'The public would expect parliament to vote on the deal. For most people in the U.K. they want a deal done and want us to get on with focusing more clearly on the issues that matter to day ,' she added.
A very turbulent period now lies before the members of the U.K.’s House of Commons, as they will vote on the deal in the coming weeks.
The vote has already been debated since the U.K. government published details of the Brexit deal last week. The opposition parties, Northern Ireland’s Democratic Unionist Party (DUP) and some members of May’s Conservative Party, including the party’s former leader Ian Duncan Smith, said they would not back the deal.
Labour Party leader Jeremy Corbyn said on Sunday his party would oppose May's Brexit deal in Parliament, describing it as a 'miserable failure of negotiation that leaves us with the worst of all worlds.'
It will be very important for the U.K. Parliament to decide on the final deal before Christmas because it is likely that a no vote would bring May’s leadership into question while paving the way for an early election in the midst of Brexit uncertainty.