European Parliament will Vote on a Historic and Final Brexit Deal

The European Parliament is set to vote on the terms of the UK's withdrawal from the European Union in a historic vote today.

The 751 legislators will examine the Brexit Withdrawal Agreement in Brussels, although it is extensively anticipated that the EU lawmakers will be backing the new UK-EU treaty.

Today signals the final stage of the ratification procedure, before the UK's ‘well and tightly planned exit’ at 23:00 GMT on 31 January.

The European Parliament's authorization is the final impediment for the Brexit process to be cleared and move forward.

The measures today constitute an occasion for both sides of the Brexit debate, who have clashed over the last couple of years (including the UK's 73 MEPs), to commemorate or ‘lament’ the expiration of the UK's inclusion in the EU after 47 years.

Mr. Verhofstadt, an ex-Belgian PM, who has been one of Brexit's fiercest faultfinders and critics, unexpectedly paid a tribute to the UK's MEPs, stating that their "knowledge, energy and wit" would be missed in the Parliament.

Other noticeable political figures are expected to make speeches, including the UK's Brexit Party head and the leading ‘villain’ of this whole fiasco, Nigel Farage, (UKIP) who has been actively pursuing the UK's departure ever since he was first elected in 1999.

The principal parting procedure will take place on Friday, when the president of the European Parliament will convey a communal announcement together with the presidents of the European Council and the European Commission.

The British flag which is now swirling outside the Brussels parliamentary grounds will be lowered on Saturday morning, before its planned exhibition in a museum.

After the UK departs, there will be an “11-month transition period in which the two sides hope to negotiate their future economic relationship.” Writes Adam Fleming, an analyst for the BBC.

The president of the European Parliament, David Sassoli, told CNN that the timetable for a deal was “tight.”

He added that the UK's leaving would be "painful" for the union but “building a new partnership based upon friendly co-operation and mutual interests” is now necessary.

By Beka Alexishvili