British leader Theresa May: Brexit will guarantee EU citizens' rights; no hard Irish border. British Prime Minister Theresa May said early Friday that Brexit will guarantee the rights of 3 million European Union citizens living in the United Kingdom and 1 million Britons living in other EU countries. She also said there will be no hard border between Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland, an issue that had threatened to derail the talks on the terms of the divorce. The agreement on the two issues means the second phase of talks between Britain and the bloc can now go ahead. The U.K. Is due to leave the EU in March 2019 after the nation voted to depart the alliance in a referendum last year. Ref. USAToday.
British lawmakers reject Brexit deal a second time as exit deadline looms. Britain's attempt to leave the European Union was again thrown into disarray Tuesday after lawmakers rejected for a second time Prime Minister Theresa May’s unpopular plan for exiting the bloc. In a statement, May said that lawmakers over the following two days would be given the option to vote to leave the EU without an agreement - an idea likely to be rejected - or to ask the EU to delay Brexit beyond the scheduled departure date of March 29. Source 6l.
EU mulls huge coronavirus aid deal. European Union leaders will meet in a special video summit on Thursday to a discuss a huge aid package to repair the continent's economies in the wake of the coronavirus pandemic. The leaders are expected to endorse a package worth 540 billion euros ($587 billion) that would help pay lost wages, keep companies afloat and fund health care systems, the Associated Press reported. The package is often compared to the U.S. Marshall Plan that sought to lift up a destitute Europe in the wake of World War II. Source 7t.
The UK's divorce from the European Union finally completes. The United Kingdom's long and divisive Brexit journey will finally be completed Thursday, after the nation voted in a June 2016 referendum to leave the European Union. The U.K. Left the EU that it had joined in 1973 almost a year ago, but remained within the bloc’s economic embrace during a transition period that ends at midnight Brussels time (6 p.m. EST). Britain’s Parliament voted Wednesday to approve a trade deal with the EU, averting economic chaos with just one day to spare. Big changes are coming on New Year’s Day. Ref. USAToday.