Ministers will meet on Tuesday to sign off on the formal trade mandate document which will frame Britain’s negotiating aims, before it is published on Thursday.  

The EU-Canada deal, which came into force provisionally in 2017, removes most tariffs on goods traded between the two countries but does little to facilitate trade in financial services, which are very important for the UK economy. The EU had planned to have its mandate pinned down by Feb. 11 it said, noting that deadline had now passed and that EU countries were now locked in debate over how to agree the EU budget for the next seven years.

The first round of formal trade talks will take place in Brussels starting on March 2, with the British side led by its chief negotiator David Frost.