European leaders on Thursday endorsed a Brexit withdrawal agreement drawn up between London and the European Union, which will now go to the British parliament for ratification.
A summit of EU leaders "endorsed this deal and it looks like we are very close to the final stretch," EU Council president Donald Tusk told reporters after they met British Prime Minister Boris Johnson.
Tusk made the announcement alongside EU Commission chief Jean-Claude Juncker, EU negotiator Michel Barnier and Ireland's Prime Minister Leo Varadkar.
Barnier said that the deal must now be ratified by the British and European parliaments "before the end of October" in order to go into effect before Britain leaves the bloc.
"What we have agreed on is much more than a deal. It's a legal text that provides certainty for the problems created by Brexit," Juncker said.
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