EU committees vote for Brexit deal

MEPS on two key committees have voted by an “overwhelming majority” to recommend that the European Parliament gives its consent to the EU-UK trade deal.

The parliament’s trade and foreign affairs committees voted yesterday, in the second to last step in the parliamentary ratification process of the Trade and Co-operation Agreement. But a date for a final vote to ratify the deal in the European Parliament has not yet been set, after Brussels postponed it amid concerns about the implementation of the earlier Withdrawal Agreement.

At the extraordinary meeting, MEPs on the committees voted to consent to the agreement – with 108 votes in favour, one against and four abstentions.

The Trade and Co-operation Agreement, reached by Prime Minister Boris Johnson with

Brussels on Christmas Eve, has been in place provisionally since the start of the year. The UK agreed to extend the provisional application until the end of April. Austrian MEP Andreas Schieder called Brexit a “historic mistake,” but said the two sides needed to “establish a strong fundament for future relations.” He added: “However, all progress could be lost if the UK continues to unilaterally breach the Withdrawal Agreement and the protocol on Northern Ireland.”