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EU ambassadors provisionally ‘green-light’ Britain’s post-Brexit trade deal

EUROPEAN Union ambassadors have provisionally approved Britain’s post-Brexit trade deal, allowing its implementation from January 1.

A spokesman for the bloc’s German presidency said today that the ambassadors had unanimously agreed to “green-light” the settlement reached on Christmas Eve.

Their decision paves the way for the agreement, which allows for continued tariff-free trade with the EU single market, to take effect when the Brexit transition period expires on Thursday night.

In this country, Parliament is preparing to vote on the deal in a special sitting called for Wednesday.

The agreement is likely to pass through both houses, with Labour ordering its MPs to vote for the “thin” treaty after party leader Sir Keir Starmer said that the only other option was a chaotic departure without a trade deal.

The European Parliament must also formally ratify the deal in the new year, although this will now apply retrospectively.

The agreement came as ministers stepped up calls for businesses and individuals to prepare for the new procedures that will apply in just four days’ time, regardless of the agreement.

Cabinet Office Minister Michael Gove warned that time was “very short” and acknowledged that there were likely to be some “bumpy moments” as the new arrangements come into force.

He said that firms needed to be ready for new customs regulations, while warning British citizens planning travel to the EU to take out comprehensive travel insurance to cover health costs and to check their mobile roaming policies to avoid high charges.

However, as reported in the Morning Star, unions and campaigners have roundly criticised the new deal, warning that big battles lie ahead in the fight for workers’ rights.

Workers in the fishing industry are increasingly angry that the agreement provides for only 25 per cent of EU boats’ fishing rights in Britain’s waters to be transferred to the British fishing fleet.

National Federation of Fishermen’s Organisations chairman Andrew Locker said that they would be “absolutely worse off” as a result of the deal.

He said: “I am angry, disappointed and betrayed. Boris Johnson promised us the rights to all the fish that swim in our exclusive economic zone and we have got a fraction of that.

“What we have got now is a fraction of what we were promised through Brexit. We are going to really, really struggle this year.”

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