Brexit announcement is expected today after late-night talks on the deal

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The UK and the European Union are on the verge of reaching a post-Brexit trade deal.

An announcement is expected on Christmas Eve, but talks continued overnight on the details of a deal.

The development came when Britain and the EU were believed to have made progress in solving problems, including fishing rights and “level playing field” measures aimed at preventing unfair competition.

The expected deal comes a few days before current trade deals expire on December 31.

Prime Minister Boris Johnson led an evening call with cabinet ministers to update them on the situation.

Johnson has been in close contact with the president of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, in recent days as high-level efforts to reach an agreement intensified.

The couple is expected to have a new call on Christmas Eve to agree on the deal.

European Commission spokesman Eric Mamer suggested that an announcement could come early on Christmas Eve.

“The work will continue throughout the night,” he said shortly after midnight.

“All Brexit watchers are advised to get some sleep at this time. Hopefully it’ll be an early start tomorrow morning … “

The UK side expected talks on the legal text of the deal, supposedly about 2,000 pages long, to continue into the early hours of the morning.

A deal covering the UK-EU trade relationship worth nearly £ 670bn will be a relief to business leaders.

If, as expected, it provides for trade free of tariffs and quotas, the economic impact of breaking with the single market and the EU customs union will be softened.

The Office of Budget Responsibility had predicted that a no-deal Brexit could wipe out 2% of gross domestic product, a measure of the size of the economy, by 2021, adding to the damage to jobs and livelihoods it already causes. the coronavirus.

But the details of the deal will be closely scrutinized to see where either party has compromised.

Britain was widely reported to offer a longer transition period regarding fishing rights than it previously wished and would agree to the EU returning only 25% of its quotas in British waters early in the process.

And when the battle to turn the tables began, French sources claimed that the UK had made “huge concessions”, especially in fisheries, an issue of symbolic importance on both sides of the Channel.

The evening discussion on the final aspects of the agreement is believed to have included discussions on fish species as part of the quota agreements.

Any deal Johnson secures is likely to go through Parliament and Labor is not expected to oppose it; Sir Keir Starmer has emphasized that an agreement with the EU would be in the national interest.

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But in a sign of the political difficulties Johnson may face, the European Research Group (ERG) of hardline Brexit conservative MPs said they would scrutinize any deal in great detail.

The ERG said it would reconvene its so-called “star chamber” of legal experts to examine the text.

A statement released by the group on Wednesday said: “As the new agreement is also very complex, the star chamber will examine it in detail, to ensure that its provisions actually protect UK sovereignty after we exit the transition period in at the end of this year. “

But not only staunch eurosceptics could criticize a deal.

Lord Barwell, Theresa May’s former chief of staff, said that “the truth is that the agreement means the introduction of significant barriers to free trade” through customs and regulatory controls.

But he acknowledged that “it is better than no agreement and we could certainly use good news.”

Negotiations in Brussels were fueled by a late-night pizza delivery.

If a deal is reached, it should have the backing of the 27 EU member states.

MPs and peers would be reminded to vote on a deal next week, but the European Parliament has said they will not have time to ratify a deal before January 1, meaning any deal is likely to be tentative.



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