Return to Transcripts main page

CNN Newsroom

CNN International: British Prime Minister: We've Taken Back Control Of Our Destiny; European Commission President: Deal "Fair" & "Balanced"; More Than 2,000 Stranded Drivers Tested Near Port Of Dover; European Union: Both Parties Have Committed To Ensuring A Robust Level Playing Field; UK & EU Clinch Post-Brexit Deal. Aired 11a-12p ET

Aired December 24, 2020 - 11:00   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

[11:00:00]

RICHARD QUEST, CNN ANCHOR: It's coming up to the top of the hour. The news today, the breaking news bringing to you Britain and the European Union have agreed their post-Brexit deal that will take place at the end of next week.

The deal covers everything from tariffs to what turned into the final sticking point, how many and what kinds of fish can be caught in the British waters. But the deal has been done. The European Commission President Ursula Von Der Leyen says she feels a sense of quart such as faction and relief.

And this deal knocks the beginning of the end of the ruling Brexit process to begin four and a half years ago with the Brexit transition period ending a week from today. That's the way we go forward. Correspondence covering it, Nic Robertson is with me in London and Cyril Vanier is with me in Paris.

First to London where our International Diplomatic Editor Nic Robertson standing by, OK, except and I think we have to accept in all our discussions that whatever they did is not as good as single-market access. But that said, Nic, when they're using phrases like an agreement that will rewrite history, a historic deal, Canada jumbo style, it sounds like they've done it.

NIC ROBERTSON, CNN INTERNATIONAL DIPLOMATIC EDITOR: It does. And indeed, it feels that way here today. It is and will be a historic change for the United Kingdom. I sense, however, that in the Prime Minister's delivery and he's had a very, very difficult year if mostly does have - this has been particularly tough.

This is not the sort of bubbly ebullient Boris Johnson that we know. This was more somber, more serious. This is a big issue. That is historic - number of times that he said this stabilizes the future going forward. This sets the relationship going forward.

But yet, before Brexit vote, the relationship was stable going forward. He wanted Brexit. He pushed for it but then had to get this deal. So I think there's a sense of relief and a reality now that it's been - that the country has been blind too because they haven't seen the state, the nature of negotiations and what's been decided.

We don't know the detail and I think that's what the Prime Minister is trying to communicate, that this change, there is of course a big political PR campaign going on in the UK to tell everyone that there is going to be change on the 31st of December.

But here the Prime Minister was really quite impassioned about that because he knows what's changed but the people don't yet fully quite understand, he believes.

QUEST: Nic Robertson, stay with me, please. We have much to talk about. Cyril Vanier is in Paris is with me. With a deal finally reached. The EU says it's time to turn the book, time to look for the future and turn the page on Brexit.

CYRIL VANIER, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Absolutely. Look, Richard, if you think about this from the EU's perspective, for the last four and a half years they have had this hanging around their neck as a threat to the EU's political project, as something that could hurt some of their communities, especially coastal communities, and is something to which they had to devote most if not all of their time.

So, it stands to reason that they are happy to move on, especially given that it seems they will walk away from this from what the EU would call a win. What's the win for the EU or win for the EU is preserving the single market, preserving their political identity and this common European project that 27 countries have investigated so much in.

And that threatened if you think back to four and a half years ago, that the Brexit threatened to derail somewhat. So, the EU, it appears, has protected its single market, and it has protected its collective political project. So, I think the EU will walk out of this with a win that is if the EU member states, all 27 of them, look at this deal and approve the deal.

But by all accounts, I think it's fair to say they probably will. If you look at the Twitter reactions, Richard, many European leaders saying have a very similar reaction this hour saying, well, we're glad a deal was done. Now we're going now we're going to scrutinize it.

But there has been excellent negotiation from Michel Barnier and under the stewardship of Ursula Von Der Leyen. So, the mood music, if you will, is good that the 27 member states will indeed approve the agreement.

QUEST: Joining me now - thank you, Cyril. Cyril Vanier. Joining me now is Richard Whitman Professor of Politics at the University of Kent.

[11:05:00]

QUEST: All right, Professor, this might not be what everybody wanted, but, you know, having covered this from the get-go, it does look as of this was the closest and best that could be reached, bearing in mind the U.K. is and has been since last year a third country. RICHARD WHITMAN, POLITICS PROFESSOR, UNIVERSITY OF KENT: Richard, I think you're absolutely right. I mean, for both sets of negotiators, the red lines on both sides were very, very difficult to square in what was a very compressed negotiating time frame.

Remember they only sat down in March to formally start renegotiating the future relationship. If you look at comparable agreements that the EU has made with countries, this one has really moved at lightning speed.

QUEST: That said the Prime Minister and Von Der Leyen both were at pains to point out that there would be real changes and the British Prime Minister emphasizing that exporters need to get on top of that. One other thing I was just noticing, U.K. citizens will no longer be able to use EU lanes at airports and things like that. Do you think those tangible changes make a difference?

WHITMAN: I think it does. You know, in many ways we've had sort of funny experience this year since the U.K. left in January because, of course, for most consumers, for exporters, and those who have moved across borders, nothing's changed.

And now we're looking at a significant set of changes, whether it's documentation that you have to carry for personal travel, whether it's documentation that exporters use, or it's what you can carry for what purposes across borders and so on as well as decisions about where you retire, whether you're educated, whether your qualifications are recognized in the EU U.K. national.

So really, I think these changes are going to dawn on people as and when they experience them. Obviously, the pandemic overshadows that because we're not moving around as much as we did previously, but there is I think on the part of the British public a lot of learning still to be had. It was interesting in the press conference that the Prime Minister kept coming back to that message for the public, you got to repair, and things are going to be different even with this deal.

QUEST: I'd like you, professor, to stay with me. Neale Richmond is also with me he is in Dublin, a Member of the Irish Parliament and is the Spokesman on European Affairs. You are obviously across this and you know - I don't know whether you've had a chance to look at the 500-page document in this, but the difficulty - I mean, look, the Irish were very concerned of a disruption in cross-border trade and relationships. Does this deal settle that for you in your view?

NEALE RICHMOND, IRISH PARLIAMENT MEMBER: It does, Richard. For us in Ireland, and I'd argue everyone, there is no - as a good Brexit but this deal in combination with the withdrawal agreement that has been fully implemented at this stage to ensure us that all the key concerns that Irish government with our European partners addressed have been sorted, were made sure that the Good Friday Agreement is maintained, that the all-Ireland economy is protected, that we can move forward with our British partners into a new, amicable relationship.

We do a bit of work to do in my relationship, but I know going forward Ireland absolutely will be the U.K.'s best friend within the EU.

QUEST: Right. But professor, but how realistic because we still don't know, professor, how different it's going to be? The relationship - when, for example, goods leave Mainland Britain, go into Northern Ireland, and this view of are they to stay there or are they potentially to go to the south, and can they be used in further production? I mean, this is the complexity of the Northern Irish agreement.

WHITMAN: You know, the change for the U.K. internal market as well as the change with the relationship to the European Union single market, the game you know that's something that those who move goods across the Irish Sea are coming to terms with.

That, of course, has been worked through on the early withdrawal agreement and there has been lots of work put in place to try and minimize that. But this is an incredibly complicated agreement in terms of its effects for all parts of the U.K., but differential effects depending on what sector you're involved with and crucially, you know, whether you're exporting to Northern Ireland, into the rest of the European Union supermarket from the U.K.

QUEST: So Neale Richmond in Dublin, that complexity, I mean, is it - I guess we don't know from the Irish or the side agreement on Northern Ireland.

[11:10:00]

QUEST: Is it - I guess we don't know from the Irish - or the side agreement on Northern Ireland. Is it workable, do you think?

RICHMOND: I think I agree absolutely its very complex, but it is workable. A lot of the infrastructure has been put in place and we've seen that with the work of both Michel and Commissioner which to make sure the part has been met. These imports at Belfast foreign point or indeed the airports as well as making sure that there's a reasonable implementation period.

The whole aim of that withdrawal agreement of the Irish - is crucial to ensure there are no checks on the border within the Island of Ireland. That ensures the good-fight agreement, the peace treaty is protected. This is going to be very complicated, the big changes coming in 1st of January for everyone.

QUEST: The biggest problem I see in the immediate future next week is just getting trucks and lorries and things moving. But the strategic difference is going to be on the level playing field. Now, let's go through this.

According to the agreement from what we heard from Boris Johnson, there will be an independent arbitration panel where one side or the other believes that there is an un-leveling of that and an ability to make a proportionate tariffs to put it right. How realistic is this professor? Is this going to be a charter for those who just want to stick more sticks into the wheels of the whole process? WHITMAN: Well, I really think this is where the devil is absolutely in the detail because we got, as you suggested, on the one hand sort of governance arrangement for dealing with disputes where there's a feeling that level playing field has been moved away from, but there's also, as I understand it, in the agreement the ability to sort of take action across different sectors, which we're used to in other agreements, for example, EU/U.S. disputes where sectors hit or whether it appears to be unfair trade in another sector.

So, the detail of that, I think, is going to be incredibly important to see how that's going to be worked through? And of course, until we see the first cases, we're not really going to see how it works out? We've seen that with Northern Ireland, we're working through the detail as to how the withdrawal agreements can be put into place and makes that sea work is complicated, I think?

QUEST: Right. And finally, Neale, now this is real. I mean, January and sort of leaving and transition kept us under this umbrella as the professor was saying which made his study feel unreal. But this is real. So, what is now to stop?

So you have under the freedom of movement people moving in from Continental Europe into Ireland and then crossing the border into Northern Ireland under the single Ireland, no border in Ireland and then being able to move across into Mainland Britain.

RICHMOND: Well, I suppose it's the difference between people and goods. Goods are obviously being eligible for checks but of course in Northern Ireland and into Scotland. Well, we do have immigration checks - checks where people. Bear in mind that freedom of movement, Ireland and the U.K. has had a common travel agreement since 1922.

That means people coming to Ireland via through the EU - were equally into the U.K. - any visa agreements they have. They do of course occasionally are eligible to make checks. It's something that's perfectly workable and has worked. It's not the major concern. The major concern is come January 1st it is the changes for business, the exporting relationship and indeed rebuilding the political momentum thereafter.

QUEST: Neale Richmond, thank you. Professor Whitman, thank you very much. We'll get more on the view from Ireland and all of this in just a moment. It is a historic day. I mean, from pretty much the last four decades the U.K. has grumbled about its relationships within Europe. They left the - the U.K. Left at the end of last year, beginning of this year. And now the free trade agreement has been announced and will be put in place. This is CNN.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[11:15:00]

QUEST: Breaking news, the EU and the U.K. have agreed - free trade agreement, and a massive future relationship deal between the two. And now with this huge hurdle passed, it's time for the European and British parliaments to ratify this deal. They have to do so before January 1st.

Today is December the 24th. And remember, the deal is 500 pages, according to the Prime Minister. The deal is the last step of the grueling Brexit odyssey that began more than four years ago with a campaign and of course a referendum in Britain.

Both sides have said it's a positive deal. The European Commission President Ursula Von Der Leyen said it's time to leave Brexit behind. And Boris Johnson says the deal is a pathway forward for a healthy relationship with the EU, at the same time delivering on the promise of the referendum in 2016.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JOHNSON: Its four and a half years since the British people voted to take back control of their money, their borders, their laws and their waters and to leave the European Union. And earlier this year we fulfilled that promise and we left on January the 31st with that oven- ready deal.

Since that time, we've been getting on with our agenda enacting the points-based immigration system that you voted for and will come into force on January 1st, doing free trade deals with 58 countries around the world, and preparing the new relationship with the EU.

There have been plenty of people who have told us that the challenges of the COVID pandemic have made this work impossible and that we should extend the transition period and incur yet more delay. And I rejected that approach precisely because beating COVID is our number one national priority, and I wanted to end any extra uncertainty and to give this country the best possible chance of bouncing back strongly next year.

And so I'm very pleased to tell you this afternoon that we have completed the biggest trade deal yet worth 660 billion pounds a year, a comprehensive Canada-style free trade deal between the U.K. and the EU, a deal that will protect jobs across this country a deal that will allow U.K. goods and components to be sold without tariffs and without quotas in the EU market.

A deal, which will, if anything, allow companies and our exporters to do more business with our European friends and yet it achieves something that the people of this country instinctively knew was doable, but which they were told was impossible.

We've taken back control of our laws and our destiny. We've taken back control of every jot and title of our regulation in a way that is complete and unfettered.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

QUEST: Taken back every jot and title of our regulation that is unfettered. Thomas Byrne is with me. The Irish Minister of State for European Affairs he joins me from County Meath in Ireland with a very splendid-looking Christmas tree behind. I wish you of course seasons' greetings, Minister, before we get into the nitty-gritty, jot and tittles.

Look, the Prime Minister is not quite is he when he says we've taken back every jot and title because the relationship with Ireland and the Irish protocol does mean that to some extent there is this anomaly on the way goods are treated as they go backwards and towards, whether they stay in Northern Ireland or go on into the EU?

[11:20:00]

THOMAS BYRNE, IRISH MINISTER OF STATE FOR EUROPEAN AFFAIRS: Well, I wouldn't call it an anomaly. We have a very implicated situation in Northern Ireland which has taken hundreds of years to reach resolve. And I think I would pay tribute not just to the European Commission negotiators, but also to the British government as well.

It's a complicated solution to what is a complex problem. He is - within the British Customs territory but also crucially still within the single market of the European Union. That's a huge benefit in Northern Ireland also ensures that people can move themselves north and south with no difficulties and goods to be traded with no difficulties north and south.

And I think the assessment from everybody to the British government is that, that was essential to protect peace. And we're very glad that's done. That was done some weeks ago in terms of implementation but also now there is a trade and future cooperation agreement which to give it I think its proper title agreed now, means that the overall framework of the relationship between Europe and Britain and crucially between Ireland and Britain, I think, is now protected.

We hated to see Britain leaving the European Union, but when they decided to do it, it was very important that we did part on agreed terms.

QUEST: So the real change that is going to take place next week, how do you see that? Where do you see that, the major change that people will notice from January the 1st?

BYRNE: Well, I think the fact is that despite this agreement, Britain has left single market and has left the Customs Unions, so there are no customs checks even with this deal that will take place between Britain and Ireland and between Britain and France. So that's going to create extra bureaucracy for our citizens and for our traders.

All of our preparations for customs, we built a lot of facilities at our ports and at our airport. They were even with a deal in mind so the difference is no they're walking tariffs on goods which would have been economically disastrous for us all and we're very glad of that, I think the British are too that's why we always felt that there would be an agreement.

But as the commission reminds us that one of the documents also on our website today there will certainly be a fee charged of goods coming into European Union. So actually, for Irish citizens who are applying online from Great Britain, change is coming next week. QUEST: So, one of the final points that occurred to me. Is this is historic as - I mean the British Prime Minister, Boris Johnson, called it a jumbo-sized, Canada-sized deal. And Ursula Von Der Leyen talked about this agreement will rewrite history. Bearing in mind that U.K. is a third country do you see this as a template for other third countries?

BYRNE: I think the British situation is unique in that we are neighbors where we share border and there is a land border as well on this particular island. So I think it's a unique situation this British agreement. I think it's mostly unique in world history where one party breaks off from an existing single market and effectively a trading agreement.

So I think this is unique, particularly trade agreements are progressing and developing as time goes by to make sure that they work as well for people and for businesses best they can. So yes, there would be elements of this - future. I think overall this agreement, and particularly the rest of it quick time frame that has come into place in would be unique I think to this particular situation.

I'm not sure we'll ever get it again on Christmas Eve, just like we had the Good Friday agreement - August is particular date of opportunity that this same relationship to be bring--

QUEST: All right. Thanks to you, Minister, first of all for coming out on Christmas Eve, and secondly for showing us your Christmas tree which thank goodness has given bit of festive spirit at this time of the year.

BYRNE: Irish language - happy Christmas to everyone.

QUEST: I won't try to repeat it in the same language, but the sentiments are there nonetheless Minister. I'm very grateful.

BYRNE: Thank you.

QUEST: Now as we continue stranded on the way home. This is the opposite side of Christmas. I mean, look at that. You got the Minister's Christmas tree, and those drivers that you're looking at waiting to get home, want to be at home with their families around their trees. That's the message they have sent out as they try to take that test and go home. It is CNN and you're most welcome.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[11:25:00]

QUEST: Years of negotiations, multiple false starts, and now the U.K. and EU have finally reached a trade deal for life after Brexit. They've done it on Christmas Eve, and the deadline, of course, is New Year's Day or New Year's Eve. Both sides are praising the agreement.

And it is a jumbo-sized agreement. It's 500 pages long, everything from tariffs to fisheries. Even what kind of fish can be caught, at what levels in British waters? Ursula Von Der Leyen, the Commission President, says she feels a sense of quiet satisfaction and relief.

This deal marks the beginning of the end of the grueling Brexit process that began 3.5 years ago. And the transition ends a week from today. It happens as the intense gridlock continues at the border between the U.K. and France where the Calais of Straits.

Now that border is open at the moment and I do believe may be some - few trucks are there than they were yesterday but many of the drivers who are there they just simply won't be home in time for Christmas. Authorities have started testing everyone trying to cross. It's a slow process and officials say more than 2,000 trucks have been tested so far.

Salma is with. I mean, the drone shots that we saw look like some of those have been reduced, but its slow going.

SALMA ABDELAZIZ, CNN REPORTER: It's absolutely a trickle, Richard. We understand that about 30 vehicles every 30 minutes at this one location. We know there are other locations, but again, I heard estimates as high as 10,000 vehicles stuck, 10,000 truck drivers, 10,000 people who can't get home to their families in time for Christmas.

Yes, the testing has begun. We understand that now over 2,000 tests have been conducted, three of those were positive. So, in a sense, that is a good sign. That means not that many people are being isolated during Christmas time. But again, it's a trickle. Meanwhile, all of these truck drivers will remain on the streets.

We've seen the mile-long queues here, of course will remain on the streets where most of them have little access to bathrooms, to sanitation, to food, to clean water, and they have long drives to get home.

Most of these drivers come from parts of Eastern Europe. It will take days before they can get home to their families. That means Christmas dinner in their cabs. But now that we have this moment of calm, now that it seems to be organized and we're looking at a steady stream going into Mainland Europe, I really do wonder how much what happened here affected and motivated decision-makers to make that deal on Brexit?

How much of it was a wake-up call of what happens when these two partners cannot agree? What happens when someone slams the door shut and the trains stop, the planes stop, that worst-case scenario that we had been talking about for 4.5 years and no deal, the cliff edge that actually took place?

That preview happened here. And this agreement means partnership. This agreement is an acknowledgment that it simply doesn't work without these two sides making sense, making compromises and coming together, Richard.

[11:30:00]

QUEST: OK. Salma thank you. Salma Abdelaziz there. The Europe Commission Chief says we can finally put Brexit behind us. In just a moment, more reaction to the historic trade deal reached between U.K. Live in London.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

QUEST: We are learning more about the trade deal the Britain and the EU have just reached. It's a three-part plan it includes a free trade agreement, a security of partnership. It does not include foreign policy or defense cooperation. Right now, though the only big headline is the focus that focuses, of course, is that they managed to reach it at all.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

URSULA VON DER LEYEN, PRESIDENT, EUROPEAN COMMISSION: And it means that we can finally put Brexit behind us. And Europe is continuing to move forward.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The clock is no longer ticking.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

QUEST: We're covering it from all sides from Britain to the EU. Let's bring back CNN's Nic Robertson and Cyril Vanier who joins me from Paris. To next I'm going to start with you, Cyril. Cyril, the challenge now is to make it work. I mean, we can argue and discuss till the cows come home whether or not who, when, and what but this is now the treaty and it comes into force next week? Firstly, do you see any problem with the European Parliament passing this?

VANIER: Well, it depends on the timeline. It is by no means certain that the European Parliament will be able to pass this by December 31st. In fact, they have signaled - they've been quite vocal about the fact that they wouldn't be able to do so, which isn't necessarily a game changer.

Because I believe what's going to happen is that the European member states are going to provisionally approve the deal, or rather, approval the provisional implementation of the deal. In other words, come January 1st the deal would be implemented even though it hasn't been ratified by the European parliament. This is not the only scenario, but this at this stage seems to be the most likely scenario, Richard.

QUEST: Isn't that cheating because they missed their own deadlines?

VANIER: Richard, there's been a ton of cheating. You noticed there's been a ton of cheating in these Brexit negotiations over the last 4.5 years. Look, the deadlines have always been self-imposed, and at the end of the day what we've seen with all these missed deadlines is that both sides much preferred giving themselves a chance to reach a deal, which they have now done, rather than really sticking to their deadlines.

[11:35:00]

VANIER: So once again, this is the idea and the rule that has prevailed. They gave themselves as much time as they could. We're now nine days away from the cliff edge from December 31st, and it was all worthwhile. Missing all these deadlines Richard, one could argue, given today's result has all been worthwhile because it allowed both sides to come to an agreement. So yes, it is cheating. Yes, it is fudge but it will work.

QUEST: Nic Robertson at Downing Street where it's now getting dark and cold, I suspect. Thank you for staying. Nic, the reality here is that both sides knew they had to get a deal if there wasn't going to be chaos. Does this - at its most simple level, it succeeds. But does it create that architecture for the future?

ROBERTSON: It does. And the architecture is there, we understand, for arbitration, for disagreements, for both sides to go in different directions, but there will be consequences. The architecture is there for both sides to continue to coexist along the lines that they've agreed.

What is very clear is that the relationship will modify in the years going forward, and it will modify - each side will have the option to modify when it sees the actions of the other. But I think you know standing here today and thinking that it was almost five years ago, February 2016, when British Prime Minister David Cameron first announced that there would be a referendum on Brexit.

Looking back across that period of time, you have to now look at it that it is relief today at a deal is done but over that period, a huge amount of division in the country.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DAVID CAMERON, THEN-BRITISH PRIME MINISTER: I will go to parliament and propose that the British people decide our future in Europe through a referendum on Thursday, the 23rd of June.

ROBERTSON (voice-over): February 2016. Prime Minister David Cameron triggers Brexit. It was and remains the most divisive issue in the U.K. Campaign was bitter. Families and political parties split. The U.K. had been a member of the European project since 1973. Cameron campaigned against Brexit.

CAMERON: I believe Britain will be stronger in a reformed Europe because we can play a leading role in one of the world's largest organizations from within.

ROBERTSON (voice-over): He was a Romainer, wanted to stay part of the 500 million-person trading bloc, the largest in the world.

CAMERON: We want our country back.

ROBERTSON (voice-over): English nationalists who never liked the EU were gaining popularity, whipping up fears about migrants fleeing wars in Syria and beyond. Populist Former London Mayor Boris Johnson wavered over which side to support then plunged for vote leave, campaigning in a bus emblazoned with a claim that was later dispelled as a lie.

JOHNSON: Yes, we can. We can take back control of 350 million pounds per week over which we have no control at the moment.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Britain is ending its 43-year long relationship with the European Union.

ROBERTSON (voice-over): When the Brexit vote came, 51.9 percent of the U.K. voted to leave the EU. Cameron quit.

CAMERON: I think the country requires fresh leadership to take it in this direction.

THERESA MAY, THEN-BRITISH PRIME MINISTER: I have just been to Buckingham Palace where her majesty, the Queen, has asked me to form a new government.

ROBERTSON (voice-over): Theresa May took over. She was a Romainer at heart too. Her party, the country deeply divided. 62 percent of people in Scotland voted Romaine. Brexit was in two parts the divorce or withdrawal agreement, deadline initially 29th March 2019. A new trade deal to follow.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We have a deal.

MAY: I am confident that a deal and a new strategic partnership between the U.K. and the EU can be achieved.

ROBERTSON (voice-over): May struggled, called a snap election. It cut her majority and left her weakened.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The ayes to the right, 202 the no's to the left, 432.

ROBERTSON (voice-over): Historic parliamentary defeats followed. The Brexit deadline passed may quit an emotional farewell.

[11:40:00]

MAY: With enormous and enduring gratitude to have had the opportunity to serve the country I love.

JOHNSON: To those who say we cannot be ready, I say do not underestimate this country.

ROBERTSON (voice-over): Boris Johnson took over. Oozing optimism but lacking parliamentary votes. Desperate for a breakthrough, Johnson held secretive talks with his Irish counterpart a week after meeting the Irish PM Johnson at EU HQ in Brussels agreed the Brexit divorce. Johnson then calls a snap election and wins a massive 80-seat majority.

JOHNSON: Thank you for the trust you have placed in us and in me.

ROBERTSON (voice-over): 31st of January 2020 the U.K. finally leaves the EU, but Brexit not fully done. Now the clock ticking to negotiate a new trade deal by December 31st. Negotiators struggle.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It does break international law in a very specific and limited way.

ROBERTSON (voice-over): Trust is in short supply after ten months, talks still on fishing rights in U.K. waters and how much the U.K. should follow EU regulations the so-called level playing field. Three weeks to the deadline, Johnson warns no deal likely.

JOHNSON: I do think it's vital that everybody now gets ready for that Australian option.

ROBERTSON (voice-over): Pressure mounts on negotiators. The U.K. wants zero quota zero tariff access to EU markets. The EU says that comes at a price.

DER LEYEN: I had a constructive and useful phone call with Prime Minister Boris Johnson.

ROBERTSON (voice-over): Brinksmanship in the air.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We are really in a crucial moment.

ROBERTSON (voice-over): The EU Chief Negotiator warning European politicians a deal possible but more time needed. Finally on the eve of Christmas after 11 months of tough talks, the deal done, likely slashing 4 percent from U.K. GDP.

DER LEYEN: So to all Europeans, I say it is time to leave Brexit behind. Our future is made in Europe.

JOHNSON: It is up to us all together as a newly and truly independent nation to realize the immensity of this moment and to make the most of it.

ROBERTSON (voice-over): Much left unresolved financial services and data sharing a deal nonetheless. Thin, but it will allow trading between the U.K. and EU to continue with a minimum of disruption. The full cost of leaving, however, may not be known for years.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ROBERTSON: And that really is how history is actually made. It's messy along the way. Divisions happen, but now it's done, and both sides agree it's time to move forward and time to live the new agreement, a new era, Richard.

QUEST: Good report Nic, that was a real magnum opus of a report going through every twist and turn most of which we've all got the scars from. Nic thank you, Cyril thank you in Paris we'll be back both with you as the day wears on and we get more reaction.

Nile Gardiner is with me, the Director of the Heritage Foundation, Margaret Thatcher Center for Freedom now is in Washington. OK. Mrs. Thatcher would have approved of this. No, no, no half a loaf and all that. She would have approved of what they've done but would she have approved of the - of this business of arbitration and potentially of some sort of tariffs? NILE GARDINER, DIRECTOR, MARGARET THATCHER CENTER FOR FREEDOM: Thank you for having me on the show today, Richard. Certainly, this is a hugely significant day for Great Britain I think it is also a very good day for the United Kingdom as it approaches a full Brexit on December 31st.

Margaret Thatcher was actually the first British politician to urge the British people to think about leaving the European Union that was actually back in 2002 in her final book a state craft where she envisioned a future Britain outside of the EU.

And I think that Margaret Thatcher would have greatly celebrated Brexit and she would have greatly celebrated the fact that the U.K. is finally fully exiting the EU. In terms of all the details, Richard, I think that we still have to scrutinize every single part of this agreement. But I think in terms of the other big picture, this looks like an overwhelming positive bill for the United Kingdom.

QUEST: Right. So, the Biden Administration, Joe Biden made it clear he was having no truck with anything that would have altered the Irish protocol, specifically as it relates the Good Friday agreement.

[11:45:00]

QUEST: Now, that's obviously been put on the back burner. Now, do you think the fact the U.K. and the EU have reached their agreement makes it easier if not more probable that a deal can be done relatively quickly with the United States?

GARDINER: I think that without a doubt this U.K.-EU trade deal makes a U.S./U.K. free trade agreement in 2021 much more likely now. And I think that this certainly paves the way in terms of Boris Johnson working with a Biden Presidency to get a deal done because I think that Joe Biden, who is, of course, a euro federalist, he's a big supporter of the European Union.

He had voiced some concerns, actually, over a U.S.-U.K. trade agreement as have other Democrats. I think that there will be now a great deal of pressure upon a Biden Presidency to do a trade deal with the United Kingdom.

They can't use the excuse of a potential no-deal Brexit, for example, to derail the trade agreement with the United Kingdom. And already you've had several successful rounds of negotiations between London and Washington with regard to a trade deal. The next U.S. President has to get this deal done.

QUEST: I mean, there was never really an opportunity for Donald Trump to get a deal done in that sense. But was it a missed opportunity from Boris Johnson's point of view not to get further down the road to almost have cemented it as he had with many much smaller deals, Vietnam, for example, and one or two other places where deals had been done by Britain? Should he have gone harder to get the U.S. deal?

GARDINER: Well, I think the British government did all it could, actually, to advance U.S.-U.K. trade negotiations. And I think on the U.S. side there was tremendous impetus as well under President Trump. And I think that overall, the negotiations have been very successful on both sides.

And I think that we are actually very close to a deal. Of course, a new administration will have to sign that deal and congress would have to approve it. But I think that we're very close to a deal, actually. And there needs to be, I think, some real strong U.S. leadership in order to ensure the deal is completed.

It's vitally important that the next U.S. President commits to a trade agreement with the United Kingdom which will be a huge force generator for economic freedom, prosperity for jobs on both sides of the Atlantic. And Joe Biden, I think, needs to drop the earlier resistance he had to a trade deal with the United Kingdom, and we need to see a new U.S. President fully committed to implementing a trade deal with the U.K. - a lot of jobs for American workers.

So this will be a win-win for both sides of the Atlantic. We're close to that deal being fulfilled and this is a deal that is fundamentally in both the U.S. and British national interest.

QUEST: Good to talk to you, sir. I appreciate it. Have a good Christmas. Thank you for taking time.

GARDINER: You too. All the best, Richard, thank you.

QUEST: We're back in a moment.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[11:50:00]

QUEST: Our breaking news at the top of the hour. The final and one of the toughest phases of the Brexit process is coming to an end. The U.K. and the EU have now agreed a deal on their future relationship, most importantly the trade relationship moving forward.

We don't know the details of the deal. The British Prime Minister said it will - the deal is about 500 pages long. But leaders on both sides are praising it. They will now take it back to their parliaments for approval before the deadline on the 31st of December.

Quentin Peel is Associate Fellow of Europe Programme at Chatham House. Well, I mean, you were right, sir. But what do you make of this deal now? They say I need your turn. This agreement will rewrite history. It is a radical deal. It is a jumbo-sized Canada-style deal. What do you make of it?

QUENTIN PEEL, ASSOCIATE FELLOW, EUROPE PROGRAMME, CHATHAM HOUSE: Well, it's not a great deal. It's a very hard Brexit. What's going to happen on the 1st of January is that in spite of the fact that we will have no tariffs and no quotas, we'll still have an awful lot of red tape introduced where it didn't exist before.

So, it's the first deal in history which actually puts up trade barriers rather than reducing trade barriers. So it's certainly no ideal. On the other hand, it is an enormous relief that they've got a deal at all, and that what Boris Johnson has been threatening for weeks if not months to crash out without a deal is actually not going to happen.

QUEST: If the goal of Brexit was to leave the EU, take back borders control, we heard it often enough from Boris Johnson, that harder Brexit was inevitable if the true meaning of Brexit with some form of free trade agreement was going to be realized.

PEEL: Well, I certainly think that for those who were most passionate about leaving the EU and all its works, that's absolutely right. And the purists didn't want a deal at all. As it is, the deal we've done will still, I think, probably require quite a lot of the British economy and British business to keep very close to EU standards if we're going to keep our business.

I mean, at one stage Boris Johnson said today that he thinks that some companies will even get better business with this deal than they did before. I don't know where he's coming from because that's very hard to imagine. But he also doesn't seem to really get the detail.

He said there'll be no tariffs and no nontariff barriers. Well, the thing is full of non-tariff barriers, so he's simply wrong.

QUEST: And services not included, which is a vast part. Now to all intents and purposes, the city of London has basically recognized it's going to have to live - even equivalence is not really on the agenda yet except in some very minor cases. Do you think there's a scope for further ever work to bring the city back into line?

PEEL: Yes, I think there is. And I think it's something that probably the 27 EU member states would like to do as well because the city has actually been a very useful intermediary for Europe as long as the Brits were inside the European Union. I think that probably they will want to do a deal, but certainly this deal leaves all services and particularly financial services out in the cold.

QUEST: Quentin Peel joining me. Thank you, sir. I appreciate it. You were right. The deal was done and now, of course, we'll spend the next goodness knows how long interpreting it and what it means. Thank you.

PEEL: I think this time, I bet write it in a very long time.

QUEST: I wouldn't put your shirt on it. I'll certainly not put mine on it. Good to see you. Have a good Christmas. I'm very grateful for you Quentin Peel. This is CNN. We'll be right back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[11:55:00]

QUEST: Breaking news, the U.K. and the EU have reached an agreement in terms of the future phases of Brexit. At the end of this month, a new trade agreement will come into place as assuming parliament - and the two will move forward with a free trade agreement. But that doesn't cover services. They will now trade to each other moving forward. That's the way things are looking. We'll have full details of course more, it is too early to tell how it affects everybody living on both sides, but we'll certainly look at that in the future because the news never stops neither do we. This is CNN.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)