Most EU trade deals to be replicated by Brexit deadline, says UK minister
With just over two months until Brexit day parliament is at an impasse over how and even whether Britain should leave the world’s biggest trading bloc
London — Britain expects that it will have most of the agreements it needs to replicate existing trade deals between the EU and third countries ready by the end of March, trade department minister George Hollingbery said on Thursday. With just over two months until March 29, Brexit day, parliament is at an impasse over how and even whether Britain should leave the world’s biggest trading bloc, increasing the risk of a no-deal exit with no provisions to soften the economic shock. The government has said it hopes to roll over around 40 EU free-trade agreements with third countries by the time Britain leaves the bloc. It has said it has reached continuity agreements with Switzerland and Israel as well as mutual recognition agreements with Australia and New Zealand, but Hollingbery said the government had not yet formally signed any free trade deals. “I believe that the majority of those will be in place by March 29,” he told parliament. “Some of them are challenging, one or two are eve...
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