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London / Brussels (dpa) - The time has come: Great Britain finally closes Brexit at midnight.
Then, after an eleven-month transition phase since leaving the EU, membership in the EU internal market and the customs union will also end.
The economic separation from the European Union will take place at New Year.
"The fate of this great country is now firmly in our hands," said Prime Minister Boris Johnson.
“On December 31st at 11 p.m. local time, a new beginning in the history of our country and a new relationship with the EU as its closest ally will begin.
That moment has finally come, and now is the time to seize it, ”said Johnson.
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Previously, the British Parliament had waved through the ratification law proposed by Johnson in one day.
With the approval of the head of state Queen Elizabeth II, the "Royal Assent", the law came into force shortly afterwards.
Premier Johnson will spend the historic hour with his family in his official residence on Downing Street, London.
After 47 years of membership, Great Britain left the EU at the end of January 2020.
The trade and partnership agreement negotiated with the EU at the last minute is now intended to avoid a hard break.
The most important point is that no customs duties or quantity restrictions will apply in the trade in goods.
In addition, the almost 1,250-page contract regulates many other topics, including fishing and cooperation in energy, transport, justice, and the police.
Still, there are big changes.
In the future, controls will be necessary at borders because standards have to be checked, including for agricultural products.
For citizens, the possibility of simply moving is over.
The visa exemption for travel will also be limited in time in future.
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The European Parliament's Brexit representative, David McAllister, sees the trade pact as a good compromise in view of the difficult circumstances and long negotiations.
The deal was “comprehensive, fair and balanced,” said the CDU MEP and chairman of the Foreign Affairs Committee in the EU Parliament of the “Passauer Neue Presse” (Thursday).
"Our future partnership with the United Kingdom thus rests on a solid and legally secure foundation, with the prospect of further deepening our relationship."
The CSU European politician Manfred Weber regards Brexit as a “lesson for the failure of the populists”.
With the Brexit referendum and the election of US President Donald Trump, 2016 was “the height of Twitter populism,” Weber told the German Press Agency in Brussels.
"People feel in 2020 and '21 that this type of policy does not produce good results."
Nevertheless, EU states will not be immune to future divisions, said Weber, who is the leader of the European People's Party in the European Parliament.
"I also believe that the shock of Brexit is now deep and that many have also learned how we have to deal with Europe, how we have to deal with each other."
© dpa-infocom, dpa: 201231-99-859118 / 3