Negotiators from the European Union and the United Kingdom reached an agreement on Thursday with just a week to go before a potential no-deal Brexit.

"Everything that the British public was promised during the 2016 referendum and in the general election last year is delivered by this deal," 10 Downing St. said in a statement. "The deal is fantastic news for families and businesses in every part of the UK."

The deal follows a Christmas Eve phone call between Boris Johnson and European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen — the fifth call between the two in the past 24 hours, according to the Guardian.

Johnson told his Cabinet that the deal "respected the sovereignty of both sides" and urged its support to get the agreement approved.

The U.K. left the EU in January, but the country remained a part of the customs union, and U.K. citizens enjoyed the ability to travel freely throughout the Schengen Area while negotiators finalized regulatory agreements.

A key sticking point throughout the negotiations was European access to British fishing waters. Whether or not European fishing boats will be able to access U.K. waters has been a flashpoint since the early days of Brexit talks. Brexit champion Nigel Farage went so far as to ride a fishing boat up the Thames during his 2016 campaign to get Britain out of the EU.

Despite the emphasis, however, fishing is a relatively small segment of the U.K. economy. With a gross domestic product of more than 2.1 trillion British pounds, the U.K. only netted 1 billion pounds from the fishing industry, or 0.1% of the nation's GDP.

But British fishermen, whose numbers have dwindled from 22,000 in 1975 (two years after joining the EU) to just 12,000 in 2020, have fueled resentment against the economic bloc, making fishing rights an issue of national pride more than economic urgency.

Fishing rights were so important to the EU that France had threatened a veto of any trade deal that didn't preserve the country's right to access U.K. waters.

Von der Leyen defended the agreement in a Thursday press conference, saying that the deal was "fair and protects the interests of the EU." She cited a five and a half-year transition on fishing quotas and said that the deal ensured "predictability" for European fishermen, according to Bloomberg.

“For our citizens and businesses a comprehensive agreement with our neighbor friend and ally is the best outcome,” European Council President Charles Michel said in a statement. "Now is the time for the Council and the European Parliament to analyze the agreement reached at negotiators’ level, before they give their green lights."

The agreement has garnered support in the U.K. as well.

Prime Minister Boris Johnson praised the deal as "a comprehensive Canada-style free trade deal" during a press conference.

"The EU began with I think wanting a transition period of 14 years, we wanted three years, we've ended up at five years," he said. "The arguments with our European friends and partners were sometimes fierce. This is, I believe, a good deal for the whole of Europe. It will not be a bad thing, in my view, for the EU to have a prosperous and united and contented U.K. on your doorstep. ... I don't think it would be a bad thing if the U.K. did things differently."

"Although we have left the EU, this country will remain culturally, emotionally, historically, strategically, geologically attached to Europe — not least through the 4 million EU nationals who have requested to settle in the U.K. over the last four years and who make an enormous contribution to our country and our lives," Johnson added.

The Confederation of British Industry, the U.K.'s largest business lobbying group, welcomed the agreement but urged an implementation period to "smooth the cliff edge" and adjust.

"We need urgent confirmation of grace periods to smooth the cliff edge on everything from data to rules of origin, and we need to ensure we keep goods moving across borders,” said Tony Danker, director-general of the CBI. “Coming so late in the day, it is vital that both sides take instant steps to keep trade moving."

The European Research Group, a key Euroskeptic bloc among conservatives, declined to comment on the deal, with MP Steve Baker saying that he had "a few days' reading ahead" before the ERG issued a statement.

Now that an agreement has been reached, the deal must be ratified by the U.K. Parliament and the EU before the Dec. 31 deadline.

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