It took four years, but it finally happened: after 48 years, and after the referendum decision, the United Kingdom of Great Britain exercised the “Brexit” and withdrew from the European Union. The decision took effect last night (Thursday) at 23:00 at night and brought to an end almost a jubilee of years of British membership in European institutions.
Brexit kicks off – Britain separates from EU (Photo: Reuters)
As you may recall, the decision to withdraw from the agreement with the union was made in 2016 after a referendum in the UK that ended with a result of 52 per cent voting in favor of leaving the agreement versus 48 per cent voting in favor of staying as part of the union. Last night, the trade agreement was finally approved by the British Parliament. In Johnson’s announcement in honor of the new year, he said it was “an amazing moment for our country. We must take the freedom into our own hands and make the most of it.”
Johnson announced last week that a trade agreement had been reached for Britain’s withdrawal from the EU and that there would be no unilateral disengagement. The trade agreement they have been working on in the UK and the EU for a long time deals with economic transactions related to the UK valued at almost a trillion dollars a year, when the British sought to leave it tax and customs free. Since the referendum in early 2016, the British currency has been significantly hurt, when the currency recently reached a low of NIS 4.3.