Council of European Union Adopts Decision to Conclude UK Withdrawal Agreement

BRUSSELS (Sputnik) - The Council of the European Union approved on Thursday the agreement on Brexit conditions, completing the European Union's ratification process.

"The Council has adopted, by written procedure, the decision on the conclusion of the withdrawal agreement on behalf of the EU," the Council of the European Union said in a press release.

On Wednesday, the European Parliament approved the UK withdrawal agreement. The country should withdraw from the bloc at midnight of January 31 local time.

After that, a transition period will begin, during which the sides will negotiate their post-Brexit relations.

Britain's Prime Minister Boris Johnson speaks during the weekly question time debate in Parliament in London, Britain January 22, 2020.

© REUTERS / UK PARLIAMENT/JESSICA TAYLOR

The United Kingdom missed the Brexit deadline twice: in March and in October 2019. This led to early parliamentary elections in December that brought victory for the Conservatives who got 48 seats in the House of Commons. The Labour lost 60 seats, and this prompted party leader Jeremy Corbyn to announce his plans for resignation.

In 2016, the British people voted in a referendum to leave the EU. This was followed by years of debates amid fears that Scotland could seek to leave the UK to remain in the EU and concerns over the future of the border between Ireland and Northern Ireland.