China News Agency, Brussels, December 24 (Reporter De Yongjian) After more than 9 months of see-saw negotiations, the EU and the United Kingdom finally "broken" on December 24 and announced a "Brexit" trade agreement. The United Kingdom can avoid the next year. "Hard Brexit" on January 1.

  At about 4 pm on the 24th, Brussels time, European Commission President Von der Lein and EU Chief Negotiator Barnier held a press conference, announcing that the "Brexit" trade agreement (full name EU-UK Trade and Cooperation Agreement) was formally reached with the United Kingdom. This defines the EU-UK relations after the UK ends the "Brexit" transition period on January 1 next year.

  According to the announcement issued by the European Commission, the core of the agreement is a "Europe-British Free Trade Agreement", covering EU-UK trade in goods and services, investment, competition, prohibition of state aid, taxation, transportation, energy, fishery and even data protection, social security coordination, etc. All aspects.

  The agreement clearly stated that after January 1 next year, the two parties will implement zero tariffs and zero quotas on all commodities subject to the rules of origin; for the fishery issue that once became the "bottleneck" of the negotiations, the two parties will formulate a new framework for joint management of fishery resources in European and British waters , Taking into account the interests of each other’s fisheries and fishermen.

  In the field of transportation, the agreement states that British companies will lose access to the EU single market after the UK’s formal “Brexit”, but the two parties will ensure the smooth flow of air, road, rail and maritime channels; in the energy field, the agreement says that both parties will build energy The new model of transaction and interconnection, but did not give more details.

  Regarding another negotiation focus, “fair competition,” the agreement stated that both parties promised to provide high-level protection in areas such as environmental protection, climate change, labor rights, tax transparency, and prohibition of state aid, through effective law enforcement, the establishment of a binding dispute settlement mechanism, and the use of Measures such as trade remedies have effectively maintained a fair competition environment in Europe and Britain.

  In order to implement the above content, Europe and Britain promised in the agreement to establish a "joint partnership council" responsible for interpreting the content of the agreement and supervising the implementation; if one party violates the agreement, such as improper subsidies or distortion of competition, the other party can conduct a Retaliation by the department".

  The European Commission's announcement also stated that, in addition to agreeing to cooperate in areas such as counter-terrorism and combating cross-border crimes, as the UK has no willingness to negotiate, the agreement reached on the 24th does not involve diplomacy, foreign security, national defense cooperation and other fields; after January 1, next year, The two sides will have no framework to coordinate to deal with foreign policy challenges, such as imposing sanctions on citizens or entities of third countries.

  In the final moments to reach an agreement, Von Delane frankly said at the press conference that he felt "relieved" and quoted the British poet Eliot's verse, "The place we call the beginning is often the end, and the end is also another beginning." Britain's formal "Brexit" will open a new page for the European Union.

  According to EU procedures, the "Brexit" trade agreement will then be reviewed by the European Council and the European Parliament. However, since the EU and Britain reached an agreement at the last minute, it is almost impossible for the European Council and the European Parliament to arrive before January 1 next year. Upon completion of the deliberation, the European Commission stated in the announcement that “based on special circumstances”, it is recommended to implement this agreement temporarily from January 1 to February 28 next year, while waiting for the approval of the European Council and the European Parliament, while ensuring that the UK will not “ Hard Brexit".

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