British Queen nods for Brexit law that will end membership of EU

London, June 27: Britain's Queen Elizabeth granted royal assent to Prime Minister Theresa May's flagship Brexit legislation today, ending months of debate over the legislation that will formally end the country's European Union membership.

 

The House of Commons speaker John Bercow said the EU withdrawal bill, passed by both houses of parliament last week, has been signed into law by the monarch, to cheers from Conservative lawmakers.

The EU (Withdrawal) Bill repeals the 1972 European Communities Act through which Britain became a member, and transfers decades of European law onto British statute books in a bid to avoid any legal disruption.

Britain is set to leave the bloc on March 29, 2019, but the negotiations must be wrapped up in less than a year to leave parliaments time to ratify the agreement.

Last year, the EU had set the British cabinet a three-month deadline to provide clarity on its approach to a future trade deal. At a dinner meeting of EU leaders at the two-day Brussels summit, the British prime minister told the leaders of the remaining EU states that she wanted to see a particular focus on the transition period to “bring greater certainty to businesses in the UK and across the EU”, according to sources briefed on her remarks.

However, the British prime minister reaffirmed the UK’s commitment to delivering a smooth and orderly exit from the EU.