European Union governments approved on Tuesday a trade deal regulating relations between the 27-nation bloc and Britain, paving the way for its provisional application from Jan 1, German Foreign Minister Heiko Maas said, according to Reuters. The deal, which preserves Britain's zero-tariff and zero-quota access to the EU's single market of 450 million consumers, was reached on Dec 24, 4-1/2 years after Britons voted by a slim margin in a referendum to leave the bloc. "I am pleased that all EU 27 have given approval. By joining forces, we have succeeded in preventing a chaotic turn of the year," Maas, whose country holds the rotating EU presidency, said on Twitter. The approval is a formality after a deal between London and the EU last week. It is needed for the provisional application of the trade agreement from next year, before it is ratified by the European Parliament by the end of February. The provisional trade deal is to be signed by EU Commission President Ursula von der Leyen and the chairman of EU leaders Charles Michel on Wednesday. UK's Brexit hardliners agree to vote for EU trade deal Meanwhile, a group of staunchly pro-Brexit lawmakers from Prime Minster Boris Johnson's Conservatives will back his UK-EU trade deal in parliament on Wednesday after they decided the agreement preserved the UK's sovereignty, Reuters reported. The European Research Group, which sees threats to British sovereignty from close ties to the European Union, said it was satisfied with the deal, which Johnson reached on Dec. 24 with European Commission President von der Leyen. "Our overall conclusion is that the agreement preserves the UK's sovereignty as a matter of law and fully respects the norms of international sovereign-to-sovereign treaties," the group's legal advisory committee said. "The 'level playing field' clauses go further than in comparable trade agreements, but their impact on the practical exercise of sovereignty is likely to be limited if addressed by a robust government." It added that the level playing field did not prevent Britain from changing its laws as it saw fit, at a risk of tariff countermeasures. If those were unacceptable the agreement could be terminated with 12 months' notice. British lawmakers will vote on the deal on Wednesday, less than 48 hours before transition arrangements between Britain and the EU expire. The opposition Labour Party has said it will back the deal, making it almost certain to pass into law regardless of the support of Conservative lawmakers from the ERG. — SPA
