Brexit:UK leaves the European Union

News:Britain has officially left the European Union(EU) and has become the first country to leave the 28-member bloc.

Facts:

UK-EU Brexit withdrawal agreement:

  • As part of the withdrawal agreement,there will be a transition period until December 31st,2020.
  • The transitional period is designed to make the separation process smoother and will be used by UK and EU to negotiate a new relationship.
  • During the transition period,the UK will be officially out of the EU and not be represented on EU bodies but would still have the same obligations as an EU member. 
  • These include remaining in the EU customs union and the single market, contributing to the EU’s budget and following EU law.

About Brexit:

  • Brexit is a term used to define United Kingdom coming out of European Union(EU).During a referendum in 2016,UK voted by a narrow margin in favour of Brexit.
  • Article 50 of the Treaty of Lisbon gives any European Union(EU) member state the right to quit unilaterally and outlines the procedure for doing so.

European Union:

  • The European Union is an international organization which will now consist of 27 European countries.It governs common economic,social and security policies of its member states.
  • It operates an internal (or single) market which allows free movement of goods, capital, services and people between member states.
  • The 19 EU countries use EURO as their official currency.But eight EU members namely Bulgaria, Croatia, Czech Republic, Denmark, Hungary, Poland, Romania and Sweden do not use the euro.