EU ambassadors approve provisional application of Brexit deal

Ambassadors of European Union governments in Brussels approved on Monday the provisional application of the new Brexit trade deal from 1 January 2021.

“EU Ambassadors have unanimously approved the provisional application of the EU-UK Trade and Cooperation Agreement as of January 1, 2021,” the spokesman for the German EU Presidency Sebastian Fischer said on Twitter.

The deal, which was approved last week and ended nine months of negotiations, will now be approved by all 27 EU governments Tuesday, Fischer said.

The deal avoids the disruption of a no-deal Brexit in the middle of the Covid pandemic and includes new regulations on fishing, fair competition and travel among other points.

The deal has been criticised by some parties in the UK that believe that it is not beneficial for Britain.

Most recently, the Institute for Public Policy Research published a report on Sunday that claimed that UK workers’ rights and climate and other environmental protections are at serious risk of being eroded under the new deal.

The IPPR said the new process agreed for safeguarding a “level playing field” between UK and EU businesses after Brexit set such a high bar for proof that UK standards could easily be watered down