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LONDON – The 27 ambassadors from the EU member states formally approved on Monday the Brexit trade deal it signed with the UK last week, the latest hurdle to an agreement to be implemented on January 1.
The ambassadors worked through the Christmas holidays and approved a provisional application on Monday morning. The EU parliament, the EU’s only directly elected chamber, is not expected to vote on it until January, and refused to ratify it during the tight time frame. Instead, the provisional application will allow it to take effect on New Year’s Day Friday.
EU governments have until 2 p.m. London on Tuesday to send their approval in writing, but this is also a formality, as EU leaders have already welcomed the agreement.
The UK government will vote on the trade deal on Wednesday and the country will leave the transition period with the EU at 11 p.m. local time on New Year’s Eve.
The 1,246-page document, details of which have been published on the UK government’s website, and fraught last-minute negotiations left little time for a thorough investigation before the deadline.
Britain’s opposition Labor party is expected to back the deal despite concerns, but there are likely to be some rebellious lawmakers in Labor and the ruling Conservative Party.
Scotland’s Prime Minister, Nicola Sturgeon, has disapproved of the agreement, and the British fishing industry has given an icy reaction to it, accusing British Prime Minister Boris Johnson of only a fraction of what the UK says international law and the government has repeatedly said it would secure on behalf of the UK fisheries. “
On Christmas Eve, the two sides reached a “zero tariff zero quota agreement” which will facilitate trade in goods across the English Channel. It brought relief to exporters on both sides who would have faced higher tariffs and costs if no deal had been reached.
The two sides have been engaged in intense talks since March to determine how trade will work from January.
—CNBC’s Silvia Amaro contributed to this article.