What Comes Next For The Approved Brexit Trade Deal?

Lawmakers in Britain and the European Union have finally found common ground for a post-Brexit trade deal. While that clears a major hurdle, the proposed deal still has a long way to go before it’s fully approved by all parties.

With only days to go before Britain leaves the E.U., politicians on both sides will have to rush the bill through their various institutional hoops. The late agreement technically can’t be ratified by the European parliament before the Dec. 31 deadline, which is when the transition period ends. Provisional approval will have to do until it can be properly approved in 2021.

For that to happen, the agreement will have to be translated into the native language of all 27 member states and taken back home for review. If each state approves it, it can return to Brussels for provisional enactment.