German Foreign Minister Maas, the rotating EU presidency, recently stated that the governments of the 27 member states of the EU have all approved the UK’s post-Brexit trade agreement, which will take effect temporarily on January 1, 2021. The leaders of the European Union are expected to sign this agreement on December 30, 2020.
According to the report, relevant officials said that European Commission President Von Delane and European Council President Michelle will sign the agreement on the morning of December 30, and then send it to London for British Prime Minister Boris Johnson to sign.
As reported, the House of Commons of the British Parliament will also vote on the agreement on December 30.
According to previous reports, the EU and UK negotiators reached agreement on a series of cooperation details including trade on December 24, clearing the way for the UK to end the “Brexit” transition period in 2020 as originally planned. The agreement needs to be approved by the parliaments of both parties before it can take effect.
As there is not much time left in the transition period, the EU has adopted a workaround, requiring member states to approve the provisional implementation of the agreement from January 1 to February 28, 2021, and at the same time request the European Parliament to meet in early 2021 to consider the agreement.
