EU and Britain approve draft agreement on post-Brexit relations and await summit approval

BRUSSELS (Reuters) – Great Britain and the European Union have agreed in principle to a text defining their future relations that can be endorsed by European leaders at a summit, the President of the EU said Thursday. Donald Tusk European Council.

Britain is due to leave the EU on March 29, 2019 and diplomats are trying to reach a divorce agreement and outlines their future relationship so that EU leaders can give them the go-ahead when from a Sunday summit.

The pound climbed nearly 1% to hit the high of the day at $ 1.2894.

"The Chairman of the Commission has informed me that it has been agreed at the level of the negotiators and in principle at the political level, subject to the approval of the leaders," Tusk said.

He added that the text was discussed Wednesday by British Prime Minister Theresa May and European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker.

According to the draft declaration adopted by the United Kingdom and the European Commission, "the parties intend to establish commercial relations on goods as close as possible in order to facilitate as far as possible the legitimate trade".

The draft declaration will now be examined by the national representatives of the remaining 27 Member States, meeting in Brussels on Thursday.

According to the draft declaration, the EU and Britain "should aim to achieve a level of liberalization of trade in services well beyond the commitments of the parties to the WTO."

The transition period, which Britain and the EU hope to see started once Britain leaves the EU on March 29, can be extended "up to one or two years" according to the draft declaration.

May will make a statement to the UK Parliament on the state of Brexit negotiations at 14:30 GMT on Thursday, Labor Party spokesman said.