EU, UK agree on draft deal on political future after Brexit

The European Union and United Kingdom have reached a tentative deal on the future of their political relationship following Brexit, a top EU official announced Thursday.

European Council President Donald Tusk, who leads meetings of EU leaders, announced the draft declaration on Twitter, saying he had sent it to Britain’s 27 European partners.

“The Commission President has informed me that it has been agreed at negotiators’ level and agreed in principle at political level, subject to the endorsement of the Leaders,” Tusk announced on Twitter.{mosads}

British Prime Minister Theresa May was expected to discuss the measure later Thursday. She and European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker had discussed the text of the draft declaration, Tusk said, according to Reuters.

Britain’s currency, which has seen some volatility since the 2016 Brexit vote, rallied on news of the deal Thursday. The pound jumped around 1 percent, to $1.2915.

Both sides have been negotiating over a post-Brexit deal that EU leaders can approve at a summit on Sunday. Britain is slated to leave the EU on March 29.

The declaration “establishes the parameters of an ambitious, broad, deep and flexible partnership across trade and economic cooperation, law enforcement and criminal justice, foreign policy, security and defence and wider areas of cooperation.”

“Where the Parties consider it to be their mutual interest during the negotiations, the future relationship may encompass areas of cooperation beyond those described in this political declaration,” the document states.

The declaration says that the EU and U.K. also “envisage having a trading relationship on goods that is as close as possible, with a view to facilitating the ease of legitimate trade.”

May plans to meet with Austrian Chancellor Sebastian Kurz on Thursday as part of an effort to build support for the Brexit plan ahead of Sunday, according to The Associated Press.

Meanwhile, German Chancellor Angela Merkel vowed during a conference in Berlin to “do everything so that we get an agreement,” saying that “a disorderly withdrawal is the worst possible way for the economy but also for the mental situation of our future relationship.”

Merkel noted that “there will certainly still need to be many discussions, particularly in Britain.”