EU and UK agree to extend Brexit deadline to October 31
BY Ebunoluwa Olafusi
The 27 European Union member states have given the go-ahead for a post-Brexit trade deal agreement with the United Kingdom to go into effect on January 1.
The endorsement by the EU ambassadors sets the stage for the formal approval by the 27-nation bloc’s governments on Tuesday and for a vote by the UK House of Commons on December 30.
Sebastian Fischer, a Brussels-based spokesman for the German government, confirmed the development in a Twitter post.
“EU ambassadors have unanimously approved the provisional application of the EU-UK Trade and Cooperation Agreement as of January 1, 2021,” he tweeted.
The UK, last Thursday, clinched the Brexit trade deal with the EU.
Ursula von der Leyen, president of the EU Commission, had described the deal as a “good deal” for the two sides.
The post-Brexit agreement is aimed at governing trade relationship when the UK leaves the world’s biggest trading bloc in four days’ time.
The endorsement will provisionally allow tariff-free trade with Britain to continue after it leaves the EU single market.
The European parliament will also give its verdict on the deal during the first two months of 2021.
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