UK, EU set to announce Brexit deal
LONDON, December 24, 2020
Britain and the European Union are expected to announce an agreement over post-Brexit trade and security.
Officials in Brussels are believed to be finalising the details of a deal that will come into force when the UK leaves EU trading rules next week, said a BBC report.
It follows months of often fraught negotiations between the two sides.
UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson is expected to speak to European Commission President Ursula von der Leyden by phone shortly.
Johnson is then expected to hold a press conference in Downing Street to announce a deal, although the text is not expected to be published yet, BBC said.
The deal comes after weeks of intensive talks over contentious issues including fishing rights and how a deal would be enforced.
A deal would end the prospect of the two sides imposing widespread import taxes - tariffs - on each other's goods from January 1, which could have affected prices.
It is understood the agreement does not have a role for the European Court of Justice, the EU's top court, and the two sides have agreed a system to sort out disputes that follows international law, rather than EU law, BBC said.
