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LONDON – The 27 ambassadors of the EU member states formally approved on Monday the Brexit trade agreement reached with the United Kingdom last week, the last obstacle to an agreement to be implemented on 1 January .
The ambassadors worked during the Christmas holidays and approved an interim request Monday morning. The EU Parliament, the only directly elected chamber in the EU, is not expected to rule until January and refused to ratify it during the timeframe. Instead, the provisional application will allow it to take effect on New Year’s Friday.
EU governments have until 2pm on Tuesday, London time, to send their approval in writing, but that is also a formality, as EU leaders have already welcomed the deal.
The British government will vote on the trade deal on Wednesday and the country will leave its transition period with the EU at 11pm local time on New Year’s Eve.
The 1,246-page document, details of which are posted on the UK government’s website, and so many last-minute negotiations left little time for proper control before the deadline.
The British opposition Labor Party is expected to support the deal despite concerns, but there are likely to be rebel lawmakers in the Labor Party and the ruling Conservative Party.
Scottish Prime Minister Nicola Sturgeon has expressed disapproval of the deal and the UK fishing industry has given it an icy response, accusing British Prime Minister Boris Johnson of securing only a “fraction of what the UK is entitled under international law and what the government has repeatedly said it would insure on behalf of the UK fishing industry ”.
On Christmas night, the two sides reached a “zero tariff-zero quota agreement,” which will help smooth trade in goods through the English Channel. It provided relief to exporters on both sides who would have faced higher tariffs and costs if no agreement had been reached.
The two sides had been embroiled in intense talks since March to establish how the trade would run from January.
—CNBC’s Silvia Amaro contributed to this article.