Brexit: EU diplomats briefed on Brexit trade deal

EU ambassadors have received a Christmas Day briefing on the post-Brexit trade deal reached with the UK.

EU chief negotiator Michel Barnier updated them on the agreement, reached after months of fraught talks on fishing rights and business rules.

MPs will vote on the deal in Parliament on 30 December, with the UK set to exit existing trading rules on 31 December.

The 1,246-page document, which includes about 800 pages of annexes and footnotes, has been seen by the BBC.

A 34-page summary of the deal has been published on the UK government's website, but not the complete text.

Labour said it was a "thin agreement" but they would back it as the only alternative to no deal, meaning it should win approval.

The European Parliament needs to ratify the deal but it is unlikely to do so until the new year, meaning its application will formally be provisional until then.

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