EU members approve provisional application of trade deal with UK

Brussels, Dec 29 : Representatives of the European Union (EU) member states have agreed on the provisional application of the trade and cooperation agreement with the UK starting from January 1, 2021, a spokesperson for the bloc said.
“Green light for Brexit Deal: EU Ambassadors have unanimously approved the provisional application of the EU-UK Trade and Cooperation Agreement as of January 1, 2021,” Xinhua news agency quoted Sebastian Fischer, spokesperson of the Permanent Representatives Committee for the German Presidency of the EU Council, as saying in a tweet on Monday afternoon.
“Final adoption by use of written procedure. Deadline: Tomorrow (Tuesday), 15.00 hours (3 p.m.),” he added.
The Committee had earlier convened on Christmas Day to start preliminary review of the 1,246 pages of the draft text, which Fischer said could take several days.
The fast-track procedures were adopted in the EU as the post-Brexit agreement was only reached a week before the transitional period expires on December 31.
The European Parliament is to formally scrutinise the legal document in early 2021, while it is provisionally applied from January 1 to February 28.