The 27 member states of the European Union have approved the agreement with the UK on post-Brexit trade relations, German Foreign Minister Heiko Maas said on Tuesday. If the British Parliament, as is expected, passes the deal on Wednesday, it will come into effect on Jan. 1, when the UK exits the EU’s single market and the customs union at the end of the Brexit transition period. The provisional trade deal is to be signed by EU Commission President Ursula von der Leyen and EU Council President Charles Michel on Wednesday, and will need to be ratified by the European Parliament by the end of February. Maas, whose country holds the rotating EU presidency, said the EU and the UK will enter a “new comprehensive partnership.” “On the final stretch of our EU Council Presidency, we pulled out all the stops over the holidays to ensure that the partnership agreement …