Breakthrough: UK and EU reach post-Brexit trade agreement

Smoke rises from a chimney behind EU flags fluttering in the wind outside EU headquarters in Brussels, Thursday, Dec. 24, 2020. European Union and British negotiators worked through the night and into Christmas Eve in the hopes of putting the finishing touches on a trade deal that should avert a chaotic economic break between the two sides on New Year's Day. (AP Photo/Virginia Mayo) Smoke rises from a chimney behind EU flags fluttering in the wind outside EU headquarters in Brussels, Thursday, Dec. 24, 2020. European Union and British negotiators worked through the night and into Christmas Eve in the hopes of putting the finishing touches on a trade deal that should avert a chaotic economic break between the two sides on New Year's Day. (AP Photo/Virginia Mayo)

By RAF CASERT and JILL LAWLESS / Associated Press December 24, 2020 4 min read

BRUSSELS (AP) – After months of talks and at almost the last minute, Britain and the European Union struck a provisional free-trade agreement Thursday that should avert New Year chaos for cross-border traders and bring a measure of certainty for businesses after years of Brexit turmoil.

With just over a week until the U.K.’s final split from the EU, the British government said the “deal is done.”

It said the deal was “the first free trade agreement based on zero tariffs and zero quotas that has ever been achieved with the EU.”

EU officials also confirmed an agreement had been reached. British Prime Minister Boris Johnson and European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen were expected to make statements imminently.

The deal ensures the two sides can continue to trade in goods without tariffs or quotas. But despite the breakthrough, key aspects of the future relationship between the 27-nation bloc and its former member remain uncertain.