The speaker of Britain’s House of Commons on Tuesday announced that legislation allowing the country to leave the European Union (EU) has become law.
Speaker John Bercow said that the EU Withdrawl Bill received royal assent from Queen Elizabeth II, resulting in the bill becoming law.
The legislation repeals the 1972 European Communities Act, which made Britain a member of the EU.
The bill’s approval is expected to give the U.K. more leverage in negotiating their departure terms with the EU.
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British Prime Minister Theresa May called the legislation’s approval a “historic moment for our country, and a significant step towards delivering on the will of the British people.”
Pro-Brexit members of Parliament also praised the development.
“The legal position is now so much stronger for a clean Brexit,” Conservative MP Jacob Rees-Mogg said. “Crucially, this makes the prime minister’s negotiating hand much stronger.”
The bill was first introduced in July 2017 and has faced a number of hurdles in both Houses of Parliament, with pro-EU lawmakers and the House of Lords moving to amend the measure in an effort to soften the country’s exit from the European bloc.
The legislation was debated for over 250 hours in both chambers over the past year.
The development comes weeks before President Trump is set to touch down in the British capital for his first state visit to the U.K. as president.
Trump has weighed in on Brexit and signaled his support for the U.K.’s move to leave the EU during the 2016 presidential campaign.
However, in January the president said he would have taken a stronger stance than May in negotiating the terms on which the U.K. would leave the bloc.
“I would have said the European Union is not cracked up to what it’s supposed to be,” Trump said. “I would have taken a tougher stand in getting out.”