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December 24th, 2020 
Awake Goy 
Britain and the European Union are expected to conclude a deal on a future trade relationship by the end of Wednesday.
European sources have told Euronews that talks are “in the end phase” and an agreement is expected within hours.
European Commission Chief Spokesperson Eric Mamer tweeted around midnight that negotiations were continuing through the night.
Irish Taoiseach Micheal Martin said in the early evening that “the signs are good” but that fishing rights “continues to be” a sticking point.
“But given all of the work that has been put into this and given the enormous time that has been put into the negotiations, there does seem to be a sense today that this is nearing a conclusion and hopefully that is the case,” he told RTE News.
The two sides began the week with significant differences over the issues of fishing rights, fair competition rules and the question of enforcing a new deal.
Negotiations were primarily led by the EU’s Michel Barnier and Britain’s David Frost.
But UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson and Ursula von der Leyen, the European Commission president, are understood to have taken direct charge of certain policy areas as the prospect of a deal drew closer.
There had been calls for the UK to seek more negotiating time by prolonging its membership of the EU Single Market.
If a deal is agreed, it would need to be ratified by Britain’s parliament, the European Parliament and by all 27 EU member states.
That process will run well into the New Year, although the UK is understood to be preparing to recall MPs from their Christmas break to approve the trade deal.
There was no immediate comment from the UK government on the reports of an agreement.
This story is being updated by our journalists.
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