EU expected to approve post-Brexit trade deal with UK 'within days': Report

The 27-member European Union is expected to approve the post-Brexit trade with the UK within days after a Christmas briefing of ambassadors, The Guardian reported. After Britain and the bloc successfully agreed on trade terms, it is now upon the members to pore upon the 1,246-page text, although there is little doubt if the agreement would be called off. On Christmas eve, both the UK  and the EU finally zeroed down on common terms after nine months of fraught talks regarding a trade deal.

The European Parliament has declined to hold a vote of consent this year due to lack of time for scrutiny. Instead, the deal would be provisionally applied at the end of the transition period, that is December 31, and an MPs vote would be held in January. The House of Commons will be recalled and hold a vote on the new treaty on 30 December, The Guardian reported. 

Britain had officially left the European Union on January 31 at 11:00 PM (2300 GMT) after joining the bloc in 1973 and the flag of the United Kingdom was taken down from the European Council building in Brussels. After this, it had entered into a transition period with the bloc until December 31, 2020, with an aim to strike an agreement defining the post-Brexit relationship between the UK and the EU. While the negotiations suffered many blows including the pandemic and other deciding factors, a Brexit deal was finally secured at 1:44 GMT on Christmas Eve.

Read: UK Parliament To Vote On Post-Brexit Trade Deal With EU On December 30

Read: Brexit Deal Explained: What Is Included In UK-EU Trade Agreement As Britain Takes Control?

What is in the Brexit Deal?

As per the summary published on the UK government website of the UK-EU Trade and Cooperation Agreement’s summary, both sides have agreed to “unprecedented 100% tariff liberalisation”. This means that all tariffs have been scrapped along with quotas on the movement of goods produced by Britain and the union. This is also the “first time” that the 27-nation-bloc has agreed to a ‘zero tariff zero quota deal’ with any other trading partner, starting from January 1, 2021.

The Brexit deal also includes the provisions to support the trade in services providing UK with service suppliers with legal guarantees that will not face any disruptions to trade while selling into the union along with supporting British professionals who will continue their business across Europe.

Read: UK Parliament To Vote On Post-Brexit Trade Deal With EU On December 30

Read: UK PM Avows 'we Have Taken Back Control' As Britain-EU Move To Post-Brexit Era

Image: AP