For cod’s hake: Last minute fishing hitch delays Brexit announcement; deal could still be hours away
Talks to finalise the Brexit deal have dragged into the early afternoon, with reports suggesting it could still be “several hours” before negotiations finish.
Boris Johnson and Ursula von der Leyen spoke this morning to tie up a post-Brexit trade deal.
The call marks the end of weeks of negotiations, with a deal held up by disagreements on fishing rights and the ‘level playing field.’
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The pair have been in close contact over recent days to thrash out a deal. Both sides are believed to have made concessions, particularly on fisheries, to get a deal over the line.
The deal will see tariff-free trade on goods. In services, many individual sectors have signed rollover agreements.
According to Irish Foreign Minister Simon Coveney a last minute hitch related to fishing has delayed the agreement of a British-European Union trade deal.
Boris Johnson is expected to speak from Downing Street later today.
Once agreed by the two leaders, the deal will need to be ratified by both the UK and European Parliaments.
Johnson’s 80-seat majority should ensure a smooth passage through legislative hoops in the UK.
The European Parliament is expected to approve the deal, which will come into force when Britain leaves the Customs Union at 11pm on New Year’s Eve, retroactively.
Negotiators are believed to have secured an outline agreement yesterday afternoon, with officials haggling over specific wording overnight as well as quotas on particular fish species.
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