European MPs back UK trade deal

The European Parliament on Wednesday night overwhelmingly ratified the EU’s post-Brexit trade deal with Britain.

British Prime Minister Boris Johnson in Llandudno, Wales, on Monday. Picture: Getty Images

The European Parliament on Wednesday night overwhelmingly ratified the EU’s post-Brexit trade deal with Britain.

The vote approved the bare bones trade deal with the bloc’s third-biggest trading partner that was sealed on Christmas Eve after nine months of tough negotiations.

The agreement provides the framework for London’s new relationship with the 27-member union, five years after Britain voted to end its 47-year membership.

In the final tally, 660 MEPs voted in favour of the trade deal, five against with 32 abstentions.

“The European Parliament voted on the most far-reaching agreement the EU has ever reached with a third country,” the president of the assembly, David Sassoli, said.

British Prime Minister Boris Johnson hailed the “final step in a long journey” that brought “stability to our new relationship with the EU as vital trading partners, close allies and sovereign equals”.

“Now is the time to look forward to the future and to building a more global Britain,” Mr Johnson said.

AFP