Prime Minister Boris Johnson and European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen meet for dinner during a trade attempt to advance a post-Brexit trade deal on December 9, 2020 in Brussels, Belgium ).
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LONDON – Britain and the European Union on Thursday agreed on new trade deals on Brexit more than four years after the UK voted to leave the bloc, narrowly avoiding a potentially disastrous scenario of disagreement.
European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said it was a “good deal”.
“It’s been a long, winding road, but we have a lot to prove,” he said during a press conference. “It’s fair, it’s a balanced deal and it’s the right and responsible thing to do for both parties.”
The Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, Boris Johnson, will hold a press conference shortly.
The United Kingdom ceased to be a full member of the European Union in January, following the vote on Brexit on June 23, 2016. However, it agreed to continue following European standards until the end of 2020 in order to negotiate more friendly trade conditions with the other 27 nations.
The two sides had been embroiled in intense talks since March to establish how the trade would run from January. There were major clashes over fishing, competition rules and the governance of their new relationship.
The trade deal is due to be ratified by UK and EU parliaments in the coming weeks, but it is a welcome development by companies on both sides of the English Channel.
The deal will almost certainly mean lower tariffs and costs for exporters than they would have to face if the UK had left the EU without an agreement.
It puts an end to more than four years of what sometimes seemed endless economic uncertainty and marks the first time an EU member has formally withdrawn from the political bloc.
This is breaking news and will be updated soon.