Brexit - what happens next for Britain in Brussels as UK fights for trade deal

Britain will rebrand its Brussels outpost when the UK quits the EU on Friday, No10 revealed today.

The UK Representation to the EU (UKRep) will switch to become the UK Mission to the EU (UKMis Brussels), Downing Street said.

Sir Tim Barrow, 55, the senior British official in Brussels, will formally become the UK's ambassador to the union.

He is currently the UK's permanent representative at the EU.

Sir Tim Barrow will become the UK's ambassador to the EU (AFP)

In London, the Department for Exiting the EU, which was created in July 2016 and has been responsible for negotiating Britain's exit from the bloc, will cease to exit from 11pm on Friday.

Responsibility for “diplomatic engagement around the negotiations” will switch back to the Foreign Office, No10 said.

Forty civil servants will be part of Task Force Europe, Boris Johnson's spokesman said.

The Prime Minister's Brexit adviser David Frost will be in charge of talks with EU chiefs aimed at thrashing out a trade agreement.
The deadline for striking a deal is December 31 otherwise the UK and EU will end a transition period without a pact.

Mr Johnson's spokesman added: “The negotiations on the future relationship with the EU will be led from a Task Force Europe team within No10.

Leave supporters say the UK will once again be a sovereign nation after 11pm on Friday (Getty)

“Task Force Europe is a small and agile unit of around 40 people which will be headed up by David Frost, reporting directly to the PM.

“There will be deputies from the Foreign and Commonwealth Office and HM Treasury.

“That team will work closely with departments across Whitehall on specific policy areas.”

During the transition period, which begins immediately after the UK leaves on Friday, the UK “will engage the EU and its member states as we would any other international partner – in our own national interest”.

Boris Johnson signed the Withdrawal Agreement so the UK can leave the EU (Crown Copyright)

Diplomats will no longer with alongside EU colleagues at foreign summits and conferences, Downing Street added.

“We will speak in our own right at meetings rather than letting the EU speak for us,” the spokesman added.

“The UK will seek to deepen our relationships across the world with future partners and ministers, and to do this you can expect ministers to undertake travel to support this ambition by visiting countries around the world.”