Brexit Series: EU leaders agree to 21-month transition agreement with UK; signal green light for trade negotiations

Two-day European leaders’ summit is proving to be very successful for the United Kingdom (may not in the longer horizon) as the European Council President Donald Tusk has confirmed that 27 remaining EU leaders (excluding Theresa May thanks to Brexit) have approved a 21-month Brexit transition agreement which provides the United Kingdom more time to implement Brexit changes, negotiate a trade agreement with the European Union and future relations in other matters.

European Council president Donald Tusk raised doubts earlier this week over whether a deal reached by Brexit Secretary David Davis and chief EU negotiator Michel Barnier would be acceptable to all 27 members as Spain was reported to be holding out over its claim on Gibraltar. Gibraltar has been a contentious issue between Spain and the United Kingdom for hundreds of years. The United Kingdom’s Brexit Secretary David Davis said the implementation period will run from March 2019 to the end of December 2020.

In addition to that, the UK has reportedly been given the much awaited green signal to start the negotiations over trade, which is quite a big victory for Prime Minister May.