by A.P.
The UK and the EU have made public the new trade deal which was agreed in principle on Christmas Eve, with both parties’ parliaments expected to approve the treaty.
The trade agreement will come into effect after the transition period ends, on January 1st, 2021. While the British House of Commons is expected to pass the deal in a vote on December 30th, official ratification by the bloc’s European Parliament — elected members from the regions of 27 member-states — will not come until January or February.
Instead, EU envoys are expected to meet on Monday to discuss the 1,290-page document, with member-states expected to provisionally back the deal some time next week, according to the Associated Press.
European legislators have said that they will be studying the treaty, with France’s Emmanuel Macron saying on Thursday that he will be looking to see that the deal — which gives European fishermen a five-and-a-half-year transition period — does not disadvantage French fishing communities.
Sources told The Times on Saturday that negotiations almost collapsed on Monday after the French demanded more compensation for their fishermen who would no longer have the automatic right to plunder British waters.