Boris Johnson’s announcement of a post-Brexit trade and security deal was held up after a data mix-up in the final hours left the EU member states unsure how their fishing fleets would be affected. Sources on both sides of the negotiations said the hitch was the result of the European commission and UK government having different understandings of the actual catches in British seas. Downing Street agreed to terms that would see 25% of the catch by value of European fleets in UK waters “repatriated”. But translating the quota changes into tonnages proved difficult. The two sides were working with different datasets relating to annual catches of fish species, it is understood. Sources suggested that the commission’s numbers were inaccurate, and that EU officials had to scramble to keep the key states on side as the impact on their fishing industries became apparent. A planned Christmas Eve meeting of EU ambassadors to start the process of ratification of the trade and security deal, allowing it to come into force on 1 January, was cancelled on Thursday afternoon. A spokesman for the German government, the country currently holding the rolling presidency of the EU and responsible for organising its agenda, said: “We have just informed EU colleagues that due to the ongoing Brexit deal negotiations the EU council presidency will not convene an [ambassadors’] meeting today. At the same time we have asked EU ambassadors to be available during the Christmas period.” The commission and Downing Street declined to comment.
Boris Johnson and the European commission president, Ursula von der Leyen, had been expected to hold early-morning press conferences on Thursday to unveil the 2,000-page legal text. The deal covers a huge range of issues from security to aviation, civil nuclear cooperation and energy. Most significantly it provides for zero tariffs and zero quotas on goods. The prime minister told his cabinet on Wednesday night that the agreement respected the sovereignty of both sides, and called on senior members to go out and sell the deal. But, despite negotiators being locked in the commission’s Berlaymont headquarters all night, there was significant work left for the technical experts to cover.