Question to the Department for Exiting the European Union :

To ask Her Majesty's Government what is their assessment of whether the EU can reach a legally binding agreement with the UK on their future trading relationship before the UK has left the EU.

As the Prime Minister made clear in her Statement to the House on Monday 20 October 2018, the Future Framework agreement will take the form of a political declaration that will accompany and be referred to in the Withdrawal Agreement. Although the EU is only able legally to conclude the final agreements on the future relationship once the UK has left the EU in March 2019, this political declaration will nevertheless carry significant force.