European session review: GBP declines as outcome of UK-EU trade negotiations remains uncertain

GBP fell against its major rivals in the European session on Wednesday as the outcome of the UK-EU negotiations on a post-Brexit trade deal still remains uncertain. 

The UK and the EU's trade negotiators continue to engage in intense talks but differences on the key issues - fisheries, state aid, and future dispute resolution - still remain. An EU diplomat told Reuters that the block's chief Brexit negotiator Michel Barnier said the coming days would be decisive for getting a trade deal with the UK but did not set a specific deadline. “He was neither pessimistic nor optimistic. He was saying there’s been a lot of movement. Still, some stuff to be done... level playing field, fisheries,” the source said. In another article, Reuters reported that the EU’s member states urged Barnier not to be rushed into agreeing on an unsatisfactory trade deal with Britain just because the deadline for a deal is looming. The UK's transition period expires on December 31. 

However, further declines in the pound were limited by news that Britain became the world’s first country that approved the Pfizer/BioNTech's coronavirus vaccine. The U.K.'s Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) agreed to the emergency use of the pair's COVID-19 vaccine less than a month after the results of the final clinical trial were released. According to the UK’s Health Secretary Matt Hancock, vaccinations could start as early as next week. 

Commenting on vaccine approval, the UK's PM Boris Johnson said that the coronavirus vaccines would allow to reclaim lives and get the economy moving again, but added that it's important that people did not get their hopes up too soon about the speed of the vaccine rollout.