BRUSSELS: Ambassadors from the European Union’s 27 nations convened on Christmas Day to start assessing the free trade deal the bloc has struck with former member Britain, a historic accord that takes effect in just a week.
BBC News
Published
image captionEuropean Union s chief Brexit negotiator Michel Barnier attending a meeting in Brussels
EU ambassadors have received a Christmas Day briefing on the post-Brexit trade deal reached with the UK.
EU chief negotiator Michel Barnier updated them on the agreement, reached after months of fraught talks on fishing rights and business rules.
MPs will vote on the deal in Parliament on 30 December, with the UK set to exit existing trading rules on 31 December.
The 1,246-page document, which includes about 800 pages of annexes and footnotes, has been seen by the BBC.
Labour said it was a thin agreement but they would back it as the only alternative to no deal, meaning it should win approval.
Read more about UK fishing industry unhappy with trade deal over access to British waters on Business Standard. Britain s fishing industry is disappointed that a Brexit trade deal struck with the European Union does not represent more of a reduction in the access that the bloc currently has to British waters