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- Brexit negotiations in 2019 started in August, after having originally concluded in November 2018 with the release of the withdrawal agreement. Negotiations took place between the United Kingdom and the European Union during 2017 and 2018 for the withdrawal of the United Kingdom from the European Union following the referendum held on 23 June 2016. In March 2019, UK prime minister Theresa May and EU leaders negotiated a fortnight's delay for the Parliament of the United Kingdom to ratify the Brexit withdrawal agreement, moving the date from 29 March 2019 to 12 April 2019. On 10 April 2019, a further half-year extension was agreed between the UK and the EU27 at the EU summit, until 31 October 2019. At the time of the second extension, the EU position was that the negotiation of terms for withdrawal ended in November 2018 and that the extension was to give the UK Parliament more time to consider the agreement. During 2019, the UK Parliament debated whether to accept the Theresa May government's negotiated settlement, to leave the EU without an agreement, or to abandon Brexit. In July, the newly assembled Boris Johnson ministry declared its intention to re-open negotiations on the withdrawal agreement, with the Irish backstop removed as a pre-condition. UK and EU negotiators met for the first time on 28 August and agreed meetings would "continue twice a week". Fresh proposals were released by the Johnson ministry in October, which the EU dismissed as unworkable. In October 2019, following bilateral talks between Johnson and Taoiseach Leo Varadkar, the UK and EU agreed to a revised deal, which replaced the backstop. The Benn Act, passed by the UK Parliament in September, required the prime minister to seek a further extension if by 19 October, Parliament had not given its consent to either a deal, in a "meaningful vote", or a no-deal Brexit. On 28 October 2019, the departure date was moved back to 2020. Following the 2019 UK general election, which resulted in a landslide victory for Boris Johnson's Conservative Party, the withdrawal agreement was ratified by the UK Parliament on 23 January 2020, and the European Parliament gave its consent to the agreement on 29 January 2020, before Exit Day, on 31 January 2020. (en)
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