Britain and the European Union struck a post-Brexit trade deal Thursday that they hope will cushion the economic blow of the UK's imminent departure from the bloc after months of tortuous negotiations.
"The deal is done," British Prime Minister Boris Johnson tweeted, declaring that the UK would remain Europe's ally and "number one market".
"We have finally found an agreement," the president of the European Commission Ursula von der Leyen said.
"It was a long and winding road, but we have a good deal at the end of it," she said. "The single market will be fair and remain so."
Britain formally left the EU in January after a deeply divisive referendum in 2016, the first country to split from the political and economic project that was born as the continent rebuilt in the aftermath of World War II.
But London remains tied to the EU's rules during a transition period that runs until midnight on December 31, when the UK will leave the bloc's single market and customs union.
The final 2,000-page agreement was held up by last-minute wrangling over fishing as both sides haggled over the access EU fishermen will get to Britain's waters after the end of the year.
Von der Leyen...
