Brexit trade deal to be approved by EU27 'within days'

Little doubt that deal struck at 11th hour will be signed off, while British MPs are set to be recalled for 30 December vote

The 27 members of the EU are expected to approve the post-Brexit trade deal with the UK within days after a Christmas Day briefing of ambassadors by Michel Barnier, the bloc's chief negotiator.

Experts across Europe, from Berlin to Paris and Rome, will now pore over the 1,246-page text, although much of it is well known in the capitals and there is little doubt that the agreement will be signed off.