Brexit: the agreement between London and Brussels will be signed on Wednesday

The post-Brexit agreement between Brussels and London will be signed on Wednesday by EU leaders and British Prime Minister Boris Johnson, before it enters into force on Thursday at 11 p.m. GMT (midnight in France), say Tuesday European sources.

European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen and her Council counterpart (institution representing member states) Charles Michel will sign the agreement on behalf of the EU in Brussels at 9:30 am, the two institutions said.

The agreement should then be sent to London, to be signed by Prime Minister Boris Johnson.

Also on Wednesday, British MPs are summoned to debate the 1250-page text.

There is little doubt that it will pass, given the majority that Boris Johnson's Conservative government has and the support of the Labor opposition.

"We will say Hello, Goodbye in the UK"

On the European side, the text will be published in the Official Journal of the EU before it enters into force on 1 January.

Its application will only be temporary on that date, pending ratification by the European Parliament, which will only take place in 2021.

“On January 1 we will say

Hello, Goodbye

to the United Kingdom,” German Foreign Minister Heiko Maas, whose country holds the six-monthly presidency of the EU, said in a statement.

“With the end of the transition period, the UK will effectively leave the single market and the customs union.

At the same time, we will begin our new partnership, ”he added.

London and Brussels reached on December 24, after exhausting negotiations, a post-Brexit free trade agreement, allowing in extremis to avoid a "no deal" potentially devastating for their economies.

The transition period, underway since the UK left the EU in January 2020, ends on December 31.

Morning essentials newsletter

A tour of the news to start the day

Subscribe to the newsletterAll newsletters

With this economic and trade partnership, the EU offers London duty-free and quota-free access to its market of 450 million consumers, but provides for sanctions and compensatory measures in the event of non-compliance with its rules on trade. state aid, environmental, labor law and taxation to avoid any dumping.