UK minister Christopher Pincher attended a European Union meeting for the final time before the country leaves the bloc on Friday. Speaking after the General Affairs Council meeting in Brussels, Foreign Office Minister Chris Pincher said the UK was “looking forward to the next chapter” in its relations with the EU. He noted that the UK and the EU’s 27 remaining countries would “continue to defend shared values” after Brexit.
Permanent Representative for Finland, Marko Ruonala posted the video to Twitter.
He captioned it: “Here we go! British Minister Chris Pincher walks away from their very last EU Council meeting.”
Mr Pincher also took to social media to mark the day, saying: “The UK has been part of Europe’s shared history since long before the EU came into being, and our close friendship will continue long after 31 January.
“Today I am at our last Council meeting as an EU member to wish my EU colleagues the best for the future.”
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He later tweeted a number of pictures of him talking to his European counterparts.
He wrote: “Thank you all EU Ministers for your kind words at our final Council meeting.
“We’re leaving the EU, but we’re not leaving Europe: with our European friends we will continue to champion free trade, tackle injustices, and defend shared values.
“We look forward to the next chapter.”
The European Parliament will hold its vote on the Brexit deal on Wednesday.
It comes after the withdrawal agreement was formally signed by Boris Johnson and EU leaders last week.
The European Parliament’s Brexit coordinator Guy Verhofstadt will open the debate, and MEPs will vote at around 5pm to approve the Withdrawal Agreement – more than three-and-a-half years after Britain voted to leave the EU.
This will mark the last big parliamentary moment for Brexit following months of wrangling and bickering throughout the bloc.
The EU’s chief Brexit negotiator will also be meeting a group of EU27 ambassadors in the Belgian capital this morning to provide them with a private briefing on his mandate for the crunch forthcoming trade and security talks with the UK.