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The UK and the European Union are about to unveil a landmark post-Brexit trade deal after negotiators worked through the night to put the final touches on a compromise on fishing rights.
The agreement, which will formally complete Britain’s separation from the bloc four and a half years after the 2016 referendum, will allow for tariff and quota-free trade in goods and cooperation in areas from security to aviation.
The outline of the deal was agreed on Wednesday and an announcement is expected on Thursday. At 7:30 am in Brussels, the chief negotiators were still working to finalize the exact wording of the final treaty at the headquarters of the European Commission.
People familiar with the situation said they did not expect those discussions to derail the deal.
Prime Minister Boris Johnson is planning a press conference after he has contacted Commission President Ursula von der Leyen. UK officials had said Johnson could appear at 10 am, but if talks continue, the situation could change.
The UK cabinet held a conference call on the status of the negotiations late on Wednesday while European governments were briefed by officials in Brussels. The final document would still have to be approved by Johnson and the EU governments, as well as parliaments on both sides.
Johnson and von der Leyen have personally intervened in recent days, holding several phone conversations, in a final attempt to reach an agreement before the UK leaves the single market at the end of the month.
An EU diplomat said the UK had made concessions on fishing in the last few hours that had unlocked the deal. According to two people familiar with the matter, Johnson has accepted that the bloc’s share of catches in UK waters should fall by 25% over a period of five and a half years.
Britain had initially sought an 80% reduction in just three years, but in recent days had offered a 30% reduction.
The bloc had refused to accept a reduction of more than 25% in the value of the fish caught, saying that even that was difficult for countries like France and Denmark to accept, according to officials with knowledge of the discussions.
This would be implemented gradually over five and a half years. The UK previously offered three years, while the EU lobbied for 10.
Sterling goes up
The pound rose 0.5% to $ 1.3560, although it was still below the two-and-a-half-year high of $ 1.3624 reached last week.
If the two sides can finalize the deal, it would draw a line in nearly five years of often stormy negotiations since the UK voted to withdraw from the EU in 2016 and lay the groundwork for Britain to trade and collaborate with the bloc. in the future.
As the end of Brexit drew to a close, the emergence of a new strain of the coronavirus forced much of England into lockdown.
Hundreds of trucks backed up around the port of Dover in southern England in a sobering reminder of the possible consequences of ending Britain’s transition period on December 31 without a deal.
Both parties have reached an agreement on fishing as a precondition for any broader agreement on their future relationship, even if the 650 million euros ($ 790 million) of fish that European vessels catch in UK waters each year they are a fraction of the 512,000 million euros of traded goods. annually between Great Britain and the EU.
The EU also wants to be able to impose tariffs on the UK if, after the fisheries transition period, the government restricts access to its waters.
In its latest compromise offer, the UK said it would accept tariffs on fishing, but not in other areas, such as energy, as required by the bloc.
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