Brexit deal gets nod from bloc’s top envoys in Brussels

The European Parliament plans to give its verdict during the first two months of next year

EU governments could formally approve the trade accord on December 29. Picture: Geert Vanden Wijngaert/Bloomberg

European Union ambassadors gave the go-ahead to the bloc’s draft free-trade agreement with the U.K., paving the way for the deal to take effect on Jan. 1.

“EU ambassadors have unanimously approved the provisional application of the EU-UK Trade and Cooperation Agreement as of January 1, 2021,” Sebastian Fischer, a Brussels-based spokesman for the German government, whose country currently holds the EU’s rotating presidency, said in a Twitter post on Monday.