London (AFP)

After three postponements of Brexit, three and a half years of political crisis and two elections, British deputies began Friday the adoption of the exit agreement from the European Union negotiated by Boris Johnson, paving the way for a divorce in late January.

At the head of a majority of 365 deputies on 650 seats in the House of Commons since his overwhelming victory in the legislative elections of December 12, the Conservative Prime Minister should this time without difficulty obtain the support of parliamentarians, largely won over to his cause to achieve Brexit.

The text is to be voted on at second reading early Friday afternoon in Westminster for final adoption after the holidays.

After the Queen's consent, it will only remain for the European Parliament to ratify it so that the United Kingdom leaves the European Union on January 31 after 47 years of an eventful common life.

For Boris Johnson, this is the day of fulfilling the "promise made to the British people" that the Brexit vote will be "packed for Christmas", according to a statement transmitted by his services.

The head of the Conservative government, in power since the end of July, has made Brexit the number one priority of his program, detailed by Queen Elizabeth II Thursday in his traditional speech organized during a new parliamentary session.

The official Brexit date will kick off a period of hasty negotiations to tie up a free trade agreement.

A transition period until the end of 2020 will open from January 31, which is supposed to allow London and Brussels to separate smoothly, during which the British will continue to apply and benefit from European rules - without sitting in the European institutions.

- Fears of a "no deal" -

This period can be extended once a year or two, any request must be made before July 1. But Boris Johnson wants to close the door automatically to this possibility and introduced into the law submitted to Parliament on Friday a provision prohibiting any postponement.

This positioning has brought back fears of a "no-deal" with dreaded consequences for the economy at the end of 2020.

The EU stressed that it would do its "utmost" to conclude an agreement, while warning that a "no deal" would have "more impact on the United Kingdom" than on Europeans.

The bill also plans to allow British justice to overturn decisions of the European Court of Justice.

After negotiating its new Brexit agreement providing for a new solution to avoid the return of a physical border between Northern Ireland, British province, and the Republic of Ireland, and to jeopardize the Good Friday peace agreements , Boris Johnson had failed to gain parliamentary support.

He had lost his majority after defections and expulsions of deputies who punctuated the political crisis caused by the referendum in June 2016, in which the British had voted 52% for Brexit.

To end the blockage, he succeeded after several unsuccessful attempts to build the consensus necessary to call early elections. In this Brexit election, he succeeded in robbing the Labor opposition of working class lands and a popular electorate.

In 2017, her predecessor Theresa May, who had called elections to strengthen her majority in Parliament, had lost ground, so much so that she was forced to ally with the ultraconservatives of the small Northern Irish unionist party DUP .

The latter then opposed all Brexit agreements, blocking any progress in the process. Their eight votes now weigh little in a House of Commons where the Conservatives have their strongest majority since Margaret Thatcher.

© 2019 AFP