The European Union welcomes the recent conclusion of a trade agreement with Britain after “Brexit” and regrets parts of the agreement

European Union sources told the German news agency (dpa), that Britain and the European Union reached an agreement on trade relations between them in the post-Brexit period, and that is just a few days before Brexit from the European single market.

A British government spokesman said that “an agreement has been reached”.

For his part, a European Commission spokesperson confirmed via Twitter that von der Leyen and European Union negotiator Michel Barnier will speak to journalists shortly.

The European Parliament said on Thursday that it would study a detailed post-Brexit trade agreement between the two sides before it is decided upon during the new year.

Britain and the Union reached the agreement just seven days before London’s exit from one of the largest trade blocs in the world, in what is the largest global transformation since the loss of the empire.

“The European Parliament will study the agreement in detail before deciding whether to approve it during the new year,” Parliament Speaker David Sassoli said in a statement.

Sassoli added that Parliament had been “clear from the start about our red lines” and had worked closely with European Union negotiator Michel Barnier over the course of the talks, but the parliament’s approval was inconclusive.

“If the European Parliament decides to approve the agreement, it will closely monitor its implementation”.

Leaders of political blocs will meet in Parliament on December 28 to discuss the outcome of talks between Britain and the European Union, a spokesman said on Twitter. 

Parliament invited Barnier and European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen to attend the meeting.

Manfred Weber, head of the largest bloc in Parliament, said on Twitter, “We are nearing the end of the long Brexit saga, but we are not at the finish line yet. 

The European Parliament will not be in a hurry to approve the text of the agreement”.

The Legislative Council will resume its meetings in January, at the committee and plenary level, and then decide on the agreement.

The agreement needs to be approved by both the European Parliament and the 27 member states. 

Ambassadors of the European Union will meet on December 25 to consider the deal.

Officials said Thursday that European fishermen will have to give up a quarter of the fish wealth they currently get in British waters over the next five and a half years.

Under the post-Brexit trade agreement reached with the United Kingdom on Thursday, access to British waters rich in fish wealth will be negotiated on an annual basis after the transition period ends.

This is a compromise between the parties. Britain was pressing in an earlier stage of negotiations to reduce the bloc’s share by 80 or 60 percent in stages within three years.

EU boats will also be permitted to operate in British waters within a distance of less than 12 nautical miles during the transition period.

But it will be difficult for many fishing communities in northwestern Europe, which for centuries have operated in what is now British waters, to accept.

For his part, British Prime Minister Boris Johnson praised the newly signed post-Brexit trade agreement with the European Union, and said that its annual value is about 660 billion pounds (895 billion dollars), and has 500 pages.

“There were a lot of people who were telling us that the challenges of the Covid-19 pandemic were making this work impossible,” Johnson told reporters at a news conference in London, and that we must extend the transitional period.

He said, “I rejected this approach,” because eliminating the pandemic is the first priority for our country.

The center-right British politician said, “People have said that you cannot be part of a free trade area with the European Union, without complying with adherence to European laws”.

The British Prime Minister said that the agreement provides “new stability and new certainty in a relationship that was at times fractured and difficult”.

German Chancellor Angela Merkel described the agreement between Britain and the European Union on concluding a trade agreement between the two sides for the period after the British exit from the bloc, as historic.

Merkel said Thursday evening: “With this agreement we create the basis for a new chapter in our relations”.

She added that “Britain, while outside the European Union, will also be an important partner for Germany and the European Union,” noting that this agreement “has historical significance”.

Merkel promised to quickly review the text of the agreement and said that the cabinet will agree to the German position on it by phone next Monday, “and I am very optimistic that we will have a good result in this regard”.