The deal establishing the trade relationship between the United Kingdom and the European Union will go into effect with terms on January 1. This is necessary because otherwise it must be done according to the basic rules of the World Trade Organization (WTO). This will lead to a lot of delays at borders due to customs controls.

To prevent this, the agreements in the deal already apply. But there has yet to be an official order on three sides.

The first check mark is expected to appear today. The rest of the European Union member states have until 2 pm today to approve the agreement. This appears to be a signature issue, as EU ambassadors of member states already agreed in Brussels yesterday.

European Union only

Also, the certification process is much easier than other commercial transactions, such as with Canada. Parliaments are usually allowed to have their say on this matter, but this is not the case with the Brexit deal.

The deal has been described as an “EU-only” agreement, in which the European Commission is the only party to it on behalf of the European Union. Member states are not, so national parliaments do not have to vote on them. This decision was widely criticized in the House of Representatives, making it impossible to exercise “democratic control”.

This was a “political choice” due to time pressure Minister Block wrote to the House of Representatives this weekend.

Parliament infiltrated

As far as Block is concerned, it would have been a “mixed deal” “under normal circumstances.” This is the case if agreements are concluded in the convention that states may decide for themselves, such as cooperation in the field of aviation or police.

This meant that a parliamentary vote had yet to be held in all Member States. It won’t work, until the no-deal scenario becomes a reality.

British Parliament

Incidentally, this scenario could still be realized if the deal was not approved by the British Parliament. That will be voted on tomorrow, according to Prime Minister Boris Johnson Is this a “formality”.

This confidence seems justified. And Kate Starmer, the leader of the opposition Labor Party, has already indicated that his own, too They will vote for the deal.

The final hurdle, in the European Parliament, will be less easy to overcome. In order to give parliamentarians time to browse the 1,246 pages of the deal, the agreement is conditional Until February 28.

Parliament announced that parliamentarians do not think this period is long enough, they want to extend it and aim to vote in March. Announced yesterday.