Britain and the European Union have struck a provisional free-trade agreement that should avert New Yearβs chaos for cross-border commerce and bring a measure of certainty to businesses after years of Brexit turmoil.
The breakthrough came Thursday with just over a week to go until the U.K.βs split is completed.
Now comes the race to approve and ratify the deal before the U.K. leaves the EUβs economic structures at the end of the year. The British and European parliaments both must hold votes on the agreement.
Months of tense and often testy negotiations gradually whittled differences between the two sides down to three key issues: fair-competition rules, mechanisms for resolving future disputes and fishing rights. The rights of EU boats to trawl in British waters remained the last obstacle before it was resolved.
