Jean-Luc Proutat, analyst at BNP Paribas notes that the UK's general election on 12 December gave Prime Minister Boris Johnson's Conservative Party a substantial majority in the House of Commons.

"The way is now clear for ratification of the Withdrawal Agreement (Brexit) by the UK and the European Union, and this will come into force after the 31 January 2020 at the latest. There will then follow a transitional period, during which the UK and EU will have to determine the framework of their future relationship. However, at just eleven months long, this period threatens to be too short to implement the clean break sought by Mr Johnson. Unless it is to fall back on WTO rules, the UK will only be able to disentangle its links with the EU through a long and delicate process. In effect, Brexit is only at the beginning."