Brussels, December 29 The Council of the European Union announced on the 29th that it would approve the agreement reached with the United Kingdom on future relations recently after signing the European Union through written procedures, and allow the provisional implementation of the agreement from January 1, 2021.
According to the press release released by the Council of the European Union on the same day, the British and European sides will sign the agreement on the 30th. At that time, European Council President Michelle and European Commission President von der Leyen will sign on behalf of the European Union in Brussels, and British Prime Minister Johnson will sign on behalf of Britain in London.
The announcement said that after the provisional implementation of the agreement begins next year, the European Parliament will still need to consider the text of the agreement in due course. After the European Parliament considers the adoption and completion of all necessary procedures, the Council of the European Union will finally announce the conclusion of the agreement.
In the past few days, the Permanent Representative of the 27 EU has conducted a preliminary review of more than 1,200 pages of the UK-European agreement. Barnier, the EU’s chief negotiator in charge of Brexit, said that he and von der Leyen had a “productive” dialogue with some members of the European Parliament.
Negotiators between the European Union and the United Kingdom agreed on the 24th on a series of details of cooperation, including trade, clearing the way for the United Kingdom to end the “Brexit” transition period by 2020 as originally planned. The agreement needs the approval of both parliaments to enter into force.
With little time left for the transition period, the EU adopts an alternative procedure to require member states to approve the provisional implementation of the agreement from January 1 to February 28 next year, and submit it to the European Parliament to meet early next year for consideration of the agreement.
