British and EU negotiators reached the agreement after successive days of late-night talks and nearly three years of heated discussions that have strained EU-U.K. ties. It will now take place on Oct. 31, as long as the deal is approved by the British and European parliaments. The agreement reached will keep Northern Ireland in the U.K. customs area but tariffs will apply on goods crossing from mainland Britain to Northern Ireland if they are headed to Ireland and into the bloc’s single market. At the Brussels summit, several EU leaders were glad a deal had been struck but cautioned that it still faced hurdles in the British parliament. In a note, Deutsche Bank saw a 55 per cent chance that Johnson’s deal would not be ratified on Saturday.

Source: National Post October 17, 2019 17:48 UTC