Brexit trade deal gets the green light from the EU

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The European Union has given the green light to its post-Brexit trade deal with the UK, clearing the way for it to take effect in the New Year.

The British parliament will have to ratify the agreement later this week, but Brussels will apply it provisionally, cushioning the economic impact of the divorce.

Customs and regulatory controls on inter-channel trade will still go into effect on January 1 after Britain leaves the EU single market.

But there will be no immediate return to a tariff and quota regime that could have disrupted trade after Britain’s decision to leave the club.

Sebastian Fischer, spokesman for the German EU Presidency, said: “The EU ambassadors have unanimously approved the provisional application of the EU-UK Trade and Cooperation Agreement.”

Under EU procedure, the decision by the ambassadors of the 27 member states to back the plan will go into effect tomorrow at 2pm Irish time.

But there is no expectation that any EU member will now halt the adoption of the trade agreement, the fruit of a tortuous ten-month negotiation.

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The cabinet here met later today to discuss the post-Brexit trade deal agreed between the EU and the UK on Christmas Eve.

France said that it supports the draft and that it will be very attentive from the first day of the good implementation of the agreement.

Germany holds the rotating EU presidency and Chancellor Angela Merkel’s spokeswoman Ulrike Demmer said the coalition government has no objections to the text.

“Germany can accept the negotiated agreement,” he said.

The European Parliament will want to study the agreement even after its provisional application and was expected to convene a session in the first half of next year to ratify it.

But today, MEPs were discussing the possibility of delaying that date even further in order to have more time to study the text and observe how relations develop.

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‘Trust and support’

The provisional approval of the member states will last until the end of February, but the EU parliamentary leaders today asked for a few more weeks to arrange a vote in March or April.

But if Britain rejects this delay, they have agreed to hold a special plenary session on or around February 23.

Brussels Chief Negotiator Michel Barnier met today with the President of the European Parliament, David Sassoli, and the MEPs who coordinate relations between the EU and the UK.

He described the exchanges as “fruitful” and thanked MEPs “for their trust and support throughout this extraordinary negotiation.”

British MPs will meet on Wednesday to discuss the deal.

Although the 2016 Brexit referendum that triggered the divorce turned out to be extremely divisive, the vote is expected to go smoothly.

MPs have not had long to study the 1,200-page text, but British Prime Minister Boris Johnson has a comfortable majority of Conservative MPs in the Commons and has hailed the deal as a victory.

The minority Scottish National Party will oppose the deal, as it opposed Brexit, but the main Labor opposition will back it to avoid further disruption.

The deal gives the British duty-free and quota-free access to its market of 450 million consumers, and gives European fishermen access to UK waters for at least another five and a half years.

But it expects Europe to impose compensatory measures on British companies if London backtracks on state aid, environment, labor law and tax rules.

A UK government minister has warned of difficult times ahead as the Brexit transition comes to an end later this week.

Michael Gove spoke of the practical and procedural changes that are coming and urged businesses and travelers to be aware of the rule changes that will take effect from 11pm on Thursday.

In Holyhead, traffic relief measures will be introduced today in fear of queues and traffic jams amid new New Year’s Day customs regulations.

The Welsh port is the second largest roll-on-roll-off port after Dover, carrying 1,200 trucks and trailers a day across the Irish Sea.



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