The last piece was missing, namely the one through which the European Parliament would make permanent an agreement initially designed to be valid until 30 April 2021: now the Brexit is finally approved from the European Union. The Strasbourg Parliament therefore did not hold any surprises: as was widely expected, the assembly ratified by a large majority the post-Brexit trade and cooperation agreement, which establishes the rules for future relations between the European Union and the United Kingdom, with 660 yes, 5 against and 32 abstentions. Green light also for the accompanying political resolution, which presents Parliament's assessment and expectations, which passed with 578 yes, 51 against and 68 abstentions.
"The agreement can form the basis on which to build a new forward-looking relationship between the EU and the United Kingdom", commented the president of the European Parliament, David Sassoli, specifying that "despite the decision of the United Kingdom to leave our Union, we still share deep and long-standing ties, values, history and geographical proximity". "I warmly welcome the results of the European Parliament's vote on the agreement", wrote the President of the European Council, Charles Michel on Twitter, according to whom "it marks an important step forward in relations" between the Union and London and " opens a new era”. For the President of the European Commission, Ursula Von der Leyenfinally, the agreement lays “the foundations of a strong and close partnership with the United Kingdom. Faithful implementation of the agreement is essential”.
A long and tortuous process of agreements is therefore definitively closed. The United Kingdom officially left the European Union as early as January 31, 2020, but for almost a year it continued to adhere to some rules, in particular that of the free movement of goods and people. The actual deal Instead, it entered into force from 1 January this year, and sanctioned important news from a commercial and also tourist point of view. Today, traveling to the UK, for work or just for pleasure, is more complicated: for vacation you need a passport and you can't stay for more than three months, while for work you need a visa. In addition, the Customs are back, the Erasmus program is abolished for students, and finally the UK-EU agreement does not cover the financial services sector.
