Negotiators from the United Kingdom have reached an agreement with European Union officials in Brussels on the terms surrounding Brexit.
The agreement, which still needs to be approved by both the U.K. and E.U. parliaments, could pave the way for Britain to leave the European Union in an orderly fashion later this month.
The withdrawal agreement was completed in time for European leaders to assess it when they gather for summit talks in the Belgian capital on Thursday.
Parliamentary approval is not guaranteed in the U.K., however, and British Prime Minister Boris Johnson has a tough sales job on his hands. The U.K. Parliament has rejected three previous Brexit deals with the E.U. The biggest hurdle facing Johnson is a potential veto from the Democratic Unionist Party, the Northern Ireland group that must approve any deal.
In the interim, businesses and travelers will be spared the inevitable disruption that would have been triggered by Britain crashing out of the world’s largest trading bloc without a deal. For the U.K. and E.U., the agreement is a chance to move their political agendas on and to start focusing on their future trading relationship.
