EU hopeful UK parliament would endorse Brexit deal in January
A senior European Union official has expressed hope that the British parliament would approve a controversial deal on the country’s withdrawal from the bloc in an upcoming meeting in mid-January.
“It is not entirely unlikely that the British parliament will vote for the divorce agreement in January,” said EU Commissioner Guenther Oettinger on Thursday.
Many believe the House of Commons would reject the Brexit deal signed between the British government and the EU last month.
British Prime Minister Theresa May, who delayed an original parliamentary vote on her Brexit deal planned for December 11, has indicated that if the Commons vote down the agreement, Britain will most certainly exit the EU on March 29 in a disorderly manner. Another option for Britain could be a fresh referendum on Brexit which could allow the country to stay in the EU.
However, Oettinger said support for both scenarios, the no-deal Brexit and a second vote, were not enough and the Commons were most certainly going to approve the current deal despite all the controversies that it has caused.
“There is certainly no majority for a disorderly Brexit or for a new referendum,” said the EU official in an interview with Funke Media Group, adding, “I assume that it will come to an exit at the end of March.”
Pro-Brexit campaigners have criticized May’s deal saying it would make Britain a colony of the EU after a transition period expires in 2020 and London would have to remain in the bloc’s customs union indefinitely because of an arrangement on the Irish border.
Those opposing Brexit have also slammed May for signing off the deal, saying Britain would be robbed of its privileges as an EU member while the country has to bow to EU rules without having a say on them.
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