British Prime Minister Boris Johnson has said that Britain will be the best friend of the European Union after reaching an agreement setting the terms for future bilateral relations.
The House of Commons in London, which is taking winter vacation, will discuss the comprehensive agreement reached with the European Union last week on Wednesday, which will be voted on.
In his introductory remarks, Johnson stated, according to details previously outlined by Downing Street, that the central goal of the bill is:
Britain should continue to trade with its European neighbors in the spirit of closer friendship and goodwill, but at the same time it must retain sovereign control over its laws.
Johnson asserts that the bill shows that Britain can be a sovereign European country.
And this was achieved at an amazing rate: the series of global trade talks known as the Uruguay Round, which led to the creation of the World Trade Organization (WTO), and lasted nearly eight years, and the European Union negotiated with Canada for five years and Japan for six years before reaching a trade agreement.
Meanwhile, Britain has achieved the same with the European Union in less than a year, moreover, in the grip of a pandemic, the British prime minister said in his parliamentary speech on Wednesday.
According to Boris Johnson, Britain is entering a new chapter in its history, as it re-establishes its global role as a liberal country that looks outward and serves the common good.
Britain did not leave the European Union to sever its ties with Europe, but rather to find a solution to the inconvenient, old problems that have plagued those relations since World War II.
The British Prime Minister said in a speech to the House of Representatives on Wednesday that he was a distant, cunning, and sometimes wheelbarrow member of the European Union, but that now he would be a friendly neighbor, and the best friend and ally the EU could wish for.
Last Thursday, an agreement of 1246 pages on the terms of the future bilateral relationship, including 800 pages of annexes and margins, was agreed upon through negotiating delegations between the British government and the European Commission.
One of the main elements of the agreement is the Free Trade Agreement, which provides for 100% customs liberalization, that is, trade free of customs duties and quotas, in bilateral trade between Britain and the European Union,
In the event that the goods comply with the requirements of the relevant certification.
According to the UK government, this is the first time that the European Union has agreed to a trade regime without tariffs and quotas with an external trading partner.
Sir Lindsay Howell, Speaker of the House of Commons, held an extraordinary one-day meeting on Wednesday at the government’s initiative to take a winter break in the House of Commons to discuss an agreement with the European Union. After the five-hour debate, MEPs will also vote on the conference, which will then be presented to the House of Lords in the Senate.
The House of Lords is also expected to discuss and approve the agreement, likely on Wednesday night, which is the second. With formal approval from Queen Elizabeth, she can immediately become legal.
On Wednesday, the European Union and the British government will sign the agreement in a ceremonial session.
The document will be signed for the first time in Brussels by senior officials of the European Union. A copy of the agreement will then be flown to London by RAF aircraft and will also be signed by Boris Johnson at the Prime Minister’s Office in Downing Street.
Cover photo illustration.
