UK and EU Completes Brexit Trade Agreement – Ratification Imminent

Fears of economic turmoil hearkened in by a New Year without a trade deal are now subsiding as Britain and the European Union struck a free-trade deal on Thursday, just a week before the required deadline.

Once ratified, the agreement will permit Britain and the EU to continue the trade of goods free of tariffs and quotas following the January 1 clean break between the two powers.

“We have taken back control of our laws and our destiny,” declared British Prime Minister Boris Johnson.

Speaking in Brussels, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said: “It was a long and winding road, but we have got a good deal to show for it… It is fair, it is a balanced deal, and it is the right and responsible thing to do for both sides.”

Ratification will require a vote from EU member countries and the British and European parliaments. Britain’s Parliament is set to vote in the House of Commons on Wednesday Dec. 30.

The complete text of the 1,250 page trade deal has now been published.

Johnson has urged Conservative Eurosceptics to back the deal, saying it made good “on every one of our manifesto commitments”, while also sending a reminder to them of “what the public want[s] us to do”.

The EU’s 27 member states have signaled that they will back the deal within days.

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