i'm christian fraser, live in brussels for a bbc news special. european union leaders have endorsed the terms of theresa may's brexit deal after 18 months of negotiations. they have also agreed the text which will outline the terms of britain's relationship with the eu for years to come. the negotiators now hoping they will be able to move onto the next stage of the brexit talks. today we have in fa ct the brexit talks. today we have in fact reached a fair and balanced agreement with the uk. this is the best deal possible given the circumstances. with the deal approved it will face a much tougher examination in westminster. theresa may has written an open letter to the british public appealing for support. throughout the hour, we will be turning to our reality check team for clarity on what exactly is in these agreements and where we go from here. hello and welcome back to brussels.

the european leaders gathered here for their special summit to sign off on the deal that will see the united kingdom leave the european union and they have endorsed it. we got that announcement in the form of a tweet from donald tusk, less than an hour into the meeting of the leaders. after months of intense negotiations he said the two sides agreed and two separate texts, withdrawal agreement, 585 pages, and the political decoration, much shorter, setting out what the relationship between the uk and eu might look like after brexit. the last—minute hitch over the future status of gibraltar was overcome yesterday. in the last hour, the british prime minister theresa may has been

talking about the agreement. let's ta ke talking about the agreement. let's take a listen. today marks the culmination of a long and difficult process of negotiation between the uk mbe year. there were those who said that reaching a brexit agreement that worked for both sides was an impossible task. from the start, i rejected that counsel of despair and set out negotiating a deal that worked for the uk and the eu, one that delivered on the result of the referendum and set us on course for a prosperous future, while maintaining a close russian ship with ourfriends while maintaining a close russian ship with our friends and neighbours. thanks to the hard work of both sets of negotiators, that is what we have today agreed. —— a close relationship. i want to talk to the british people and explain what this deal means. first, control of our borders. not an emergency brake on free movement or a promise of greater transition controls in the future but an end to the free

movement of people for once and for all. that is what this deal delivers. it will allow us to put in place an immigration system not on where people come from but the skills and talents they have to offer. that is in our national interest. second, control of our money. not a reduction in our membership fee or rebates but an end of the payment is being sent to the eu. that is what this deal delivers. instead, we will be able to spend taxpayers money on our priorities, like the £394 million per week of extra investment we are putting into latin hs. that is in our national interest. third, control over our laws. not just the interest. third, control over our laws. notjust the return of some areas of return from brussels but an end to the duris diction of the european court of justice end to the duris diction of the european court ofjustice in the uk, with our laws being made in our

country by democratically elected politicians, interpreted and enforced by british courts. that is what this deal delivers that is in our national interests. the prime minister addressing a press c0 nfe re nce the prime minister addressing a press conference in the last hour. while the brexit deal has been signed off here in brussels this morning, it now needs the approval of westminster politicians, which could prove less straightforward. this may be an historic moment in the brexit journey but this may be an historic moment in the brexitjourney but as adam fleming reports, there is still a long way to go. time to shake on it, as eu leaders arrived in brussels this morning, the message was this is the deal, the only deal. this is the deal, it is the best deal possible and the european union will not change its fundamental position when it comes to these issues.“ the besson possible one and i want to say that there is nothing other possible because has been concessions also from our side. this is the deal on the table, i don't

think there is anything more. this is designed to show the divorce talks have definitively come to an end and to provide a springboard for theresa may to sell her deal back at home. the withdrawal agreement fixes the divorce terms, by guaranteeing the rights of eu nationals in the uk and brits in europe. settling the uk's financial obligations, estimated at £39 billion, with an insurance policy to avoid checks on the irish border. there is also a road map to the future relationship. one based on free trade. not necessarily the frictionless trade promise by the prime minister. there will be continued cooperation on security and unlimited immigration from the eu, free movement, will come to an end. after nearly two years of talks, it took a 27 prime ministers, presidents and chancellors about 40 minutes to apply the rubber—stamp to

the bargain. then the prime minister arrived to speak to her fellow leaders. she really wanted to talk directly to you. in any negotiation, you do not get everything you want. you need to identify what your vital interests are and stick to them, but be prepared to compromise in other areas, in order achieve a result. i think the british people understand that. when they look at this deal, they will see it is a good one for our country and it is in the national interest for everyone to get behind it. with the divorce agreed, the other side is now preparing for talks about the future relationship that could last for four years. ahead of us is the difficult process of ratification, as well as further negotiations. but regardless of how it will all end, one thing is certain, we will remain friends until the end of days. and one day

longer. outside the summit, anti—brexit protesters showed exactly what they think of the deal. lots of brexit supporters don't like it much, either. but brussels is on the battlefield any more, it's britain now. the european leaders speaking with one voice today. this is the only deal on the table. that has been ringing out loud and clear here in brussels this morning. one of the issues to weigh on the future relationship between the uk and the eu will be fisheries. some european countries, like france that instance, have been very vocal in that they want to protect their fishermen and make sure the uk gra nts fishermen and make sure the uk grants access to british territorial waters. here is the comments of the french president emmanuel macron when he was asked if he was willing to compromise on this point to help theresa may win the support of parliament on the withdrawal deal. translation: it's from the 30th of

march, we will enter a transition period. for our economic players, it will be accessed until the 31st of december 2020. anyway, then if we have an agreement, we shall defend access to the british waters as being part of the overall balance, and likei being part of the overall balance, and like i said, thanks to the declaration of the 27, this has been acknowledged as a key point for the future negotiations. so please allow me to reassure them by telling them first of all that we are prepared for the possibility of a no deal. and then that even if there is a deal, their lives will not change until the end of 2020 and that we got the support of the 27 in order to defend the ambitious proposal described for fisheries. many other countries are involved in that in

the context of the future relationship. , neuer, who has his own domestic problems, like theresa may, facing some violent fuel protests in paris yesterday. we were talking about the future of fishing off the brexit and is one of the things that preoccupies the european leaders. anna holligan has been to a community and the netherlands, worried about what happens after brexit. dutch fishermen catch more than half of their fish in brexit. dutch fishermen catch more than half of theirfish in british waters. a lot of families are relying on fish, not only on fishing boats but the fishing industry. for us, it is very important we can have access to british waters. the seas around all the eu nations are effectively palled, which means boats from one country can fish in another‘s waters. boats from one country can fish in another's waters. we are fishing ourselves in the british waters. 89%

from our community comes from the fish. but fishing accounts for less than 1% of dutch gdp. on a national basis, it's little, so it's easy to give away fisheries for bigger gains. and there is a twist in this tale. trade access is vital to britain because it exports the bulk of the seafood it catches and imports the majority of what it consumes. and here is where the deep disagreements exist, and getting the right balance between access for uk paredes to eu markets and the eu fishing vessels to uk waters. the fear on this side of the channel is that british fishermen are lobbying to get greater chunk of the quote is

currently assigned to other eu nations. this lemon sole was netted off the english coast by dutch fishermen. it is being processed in the netherlands and sold back to britain. this box is going to the british market. all the flat fish caught in the british waters landseer in the netherlands, caught by dutch guys, not british guys. there will be people listening thinking it is a bit strange that dutch are catching the british fish and selling it back to be british? they cannot produce like us. we own all the machines cost up the netherlands is not the only nation with a vocal fishing lobby. with more political clout than you might expect, given its overall contribution to the economy. this has the potential to get ugly. anna

holligan, bbc news. fishing is going to be one there is very thorny issues in the months ahead. in the letter we saw from the european leaders today, sent to the european leaders today, sent to the european leaders, they said they wa nt to european leaders, they said they want to get some deal on fishing by 2020. of course, it matters so much to those conservative mps in scotla nd to those conservative mps in scotland that represent fishing communities. expect a battle royal on that one. with a deal agreed by brussels, focus turns to westminster. prime minister theresa may's chances of getting it through the house of commons. this morning she appealed directly to the british public in an open letter to give behind the deal in the national interest in knowing its chances of success in westminster are far from assured. here is a political correspondent. for now, the hard work is over in brussels. they have found enough common ground. but back home, the hard sell of the brexit deal continues. ministers are

adamant what is on offer is the best possible outcome. it gets us a lot of what we wanted, not everything, but the question is can this be the staging post that gets us to the point where we could gets us to the point where we could get everything? i think with a lot of ha rd get everything? i think with a lot of hard work, it can be. the prime minister has written an open letter, calling on the country to get behind the agreement. she insists the deal works for all of our people, whether you voted leave or remain and she says after brexit day next march, we will begin a new chapter in our national life. but the real battle now begins here in westminster, where parliament must approve the deal in the coming weeks. the numbers don't look good for the government, with opposition parties and dozens of conservative mps already vowing to vote it down. theresa may is trying to push through parliament and ill—fated, half baked deal that is the worst of all worlds. we need to work as hard as we can to ensure she thinks again.

i don't believe that so far this deal delivers on what the british people really voted for. take back control of your borders, laws and money. i think it has ceded too much control. if the plans for how to keep the irish borderfree control. if the plans for how to keep the irish border free from checks that have raised hackles across the political spectrum. northern ireland's democratic unionists are reconsidering their support for the government which theresa may relies on for her majority. staying within the european union, in terms of the single market, the customs union ‘s rules will apply to northern ireland. we are in the same state aid is europe and there is very much a border down the irish sea as a result of this and that is why we cannot support this deal. theresa may will hope she can convince as many mps as possible here to back her, to avoid a leap into the unknown if parliament rejects the deal. both the eu and the government say there can be no renegotiation. hoping that will

focus minds. let's get some reaction to what is being agreed in brussels today. we're speaking to an mep for the uk independence party. what are the benefits that woman back with spelling out for this deal —— theresa may. money that goes to the nhs and fishing and things you campaigned on for years. we did not campaigned on for years. we did not campaign to seed far too much power initially in this deal and i'm afraid that is exactly what she has done. it was a bad deal last week and it has just done. it was a bad deal last week and it hasjust been actually endorsed by the 27 today. you would expect that to happen but it still remainsa bad expect that to happen but it still remains a bad deal. we are tied in perpetuity. that is still firmly

state and we cannot go out and get trade deals with the rest of the world and i personally felt that was very important to help our economy immediately. 50% of our trade is already under world trade organisation terms and i wanted that positive side delivered a message is kicking the kind and the road for two years to see what happens. we have a new administration coming into the european union next year and no idea what shape that will ta ke and no idea what shape that will take on who they will be and what they will say. so it is not a good deal and frankly should not be offered to the british parliament to have to ratify. we have had one of your fellow meps after year in the past who has been on the steering committee for the european parliament and he says too much focus is being put on a backstop because there is provision to extend the transfer possibly two 2022 and because we start very close to each other but is a trade deal that can

be infour other but is a trade deal that can be in four years. that is all very well and good and i understand why he would say that. these are nice words but they are not firm. we don't have a firm commitment. no deal is worth its salt unless you knows what you are doing about and with a cut—off point is, then you can actually go ahead and get things done. —— we have a cut—off pointers. we're still stuck with the same rule book. that is not to say we don't agree with some of things quite clearly we probably would that at the end of the day we must be free to allow the british people to actually have the benefits of freedom of leaving the european union. this does deliver that. would you accept as the british feminist set out in the last hour that for all those things i have spelt out this deal focuses on, the cap, the fishing and the money and nhs, etc, there has to be some compromise, because for a lot of people who

didn't vote for a brexit their livelihoods are at stake? didn't vote for a brexit their livelihoods are at stake ?|j didn't vote for a brexit their livelihoods are at stake? i think there has been an immense amount of compromise. i have no idea what the eu compromise. i'm not hearing the word about that. it remains a rotten deal and i think to be quite honest it would be far more beneficial if we left on world trade organisation terms on the 29th of march. then once you've left we can indeed go back to our good friends in europe and sort out some arrangements. but then we will be in a position of authority and power and quite rightly so. a quick word on what we have heard from the remains side of the argument today. the idea that could be a referendum general election around the corner. would you rather have another election are a referendum rather than this deal? we have already had a referendum and the people of spoken and i think to offer a second one is by the back

door. it is large corporate globalist people, it benefits them and they want to crush the will of the people. the people voted to leave, it is the government and the civil servants who wish to remain. that is what we're up against. they don't like what the people voted for and i'm afraid that is the fact the truth of the matter. thank you very much indeed. that is the view of the uk independence party. a very different view from former uk prime ministers tony blair who is backing a second referendum. refer to it today as a people is bought and he's been telling the bbc why he supports it. the whole basis of theresa may's case to the british people is that this honours the brexit mandate and it settles the issue. and actually, neither is correct. it doesn't honour the brexit mandate because the people who most fervently believe in brexit say this isn't brexit. and it doesn't settle the issue, because, actually, there is so much still to be discussed that even those people who stay

in the cabinet at the moment, who are really anti—her plan but stay in it tactically, want to pull us the other side of march 2019 and carry on the fight. therefore, the only way you're going to unite the country, ultimately, is to get this back to the people and say you've a mandate, whether the government does a proper brexit, the sort of brexit borisjohnson wants, or that we stay. that is the only way of resolving this now, because i think her deal will fail because in the end it will satisfy no one. it's actually only succeeded in uniting people in opposition to it. let's speak to our reality check correspondent, chris morris. this happened very quickly today and was signed off by the european leaders in quicktime. what are the staging post from here? the withdrawal

agreement withdrawn today. the other 27 countries do actually have two formally approve it. this may not have until march but we will imagine it would be done your man asleep —— unanimously. and they could be done with 20 out of the 27 voting for it. the numbers in the house of commons don't look good for the prime minister and i think downing street must acknowledge that. she felt that when she was in the house of commons a couple of days ago and took many minutes, more than half an hour before any conservative mps stood up from the backbenches to offer her support the deal she has done. that is the biggest challenge. i think there is a live debate, the plan b debate which the body was to talk about at the moment. what might happen if that vote in the house of

commons to ratify this deal went down and was rejected. why do you think the european leaders came here today? there was not abort and they do not have to sign and negotiate anything. —— there was no vote.|j think they thought this was a big moment and for the first time a member state was leaving and one of the biggest and most important member states. i think they wanted to make sure nothing was lost in the wash. the sort of handed over the negotiation to michel barnier and his team and i think is important to get all the leaders in one room and say this is what we have agreed and we have this is the place where we wa nt to we have this is the place where we want to be? that was a bit of a rubber—stamping exercise today i that moment was probably needed today just to impress that moment was probably needed todayjust to impress and everyone it isa todayjust to impress and everyone it is a turning point on the history of the european union. it is a turning point on the history

of the european unionlj it is a turning point on the history of the european union. i wonder if they came here to say to donald tusk this issue is really important to us. for the unity that has been during the withdrawal process now the national interests are starting to coming to the fore. they will come to the fore more and more as we started talk under the gauche essence of the future relationship because that is when national interest really will be at stake. we also have the president of the european parliament. it has a role to play as well. we should not take it for granted. if the vote went through the house of commons they would have to be a ratification process in the european parliament as well. all these bits of the jigsaw need to be put together if the uk is to leave the eu on schedule in march 2019. mr brock says it will call no problem through the european parliament because they have been kept involved throughout. we thought that would've been two

yea rs we thought that would've been two years ago one of the problems. have got more than they bargained for?” think it will go through no problem if it is currently configured but that got defeated in the house of commons and the uk said we need a twea k commons and the uk said we need a tweak here and there i don't think thatis tweak here and there i don't think that is a realistic possibility of tweaking to the legally binding withdrawal agreement. the political declaration, an aspirational and non—binding document, maybe you could tweak it to be good to get the decisions you start taking it to try and please people in the european elite like british parliament she might upset people in the british the bag european parliament. —— in the bag european parliament. —— in the european parliament. this is the subject of ferocious debate within the uk political system. the letter that we have had the prime minister today, all speaking on the same page here in brussels, that is now a very concerted effort to pitch this is the only option on the table? there

is and we will see a campaign above the heads of her mps, trying to appeal to people directly. we had her set out what we think will be something close to her stump speech in the next few weeks. we are taking control back of our borders, yes, after a transition period, free movement of people to the uk from the eu will come to an end. she didn't emphasise the other way round as well. for british people going to europe free movement will end. will be an end to budge when payments to brussels but there will still be money going to brussels if we want to be involved in any of their programmes. that is another side of the argument for both sides, remain and leave, we will hear those arguments. you're watching the bbc news special. overall it is a brighter day today compared with

yesterday. more of us are seeing a bit of sunshine but the still a fair amount of cloud out there. there are some showers. rainbows across eastern parts of scotland today. this is a recent satellite picture. it isa this is a recent satellite picture. it is a bit brighter and is pushed into parts of these woodlands of east anglia. sunny spells across north west scotland and the western isles favoured with the least of the breeze to see some sunshine. showers and eastern scotland and north east england in northern ireland. if you're get ahead out about this afternoon the shallows into the english channel but most of these are english channel but most of these a re overwater english channel but most of these are overwater rather than land. a bit brighter today in southern england and wales compared to yesterday. a few showers around the thames estuary and some sunny spells and north—west england. through western and northern scotland. eastern scotland has a peppering of showers. it feels mortuary today and temperatures are still in single figures and we have that easterly

breeze which is a little more noticeable compared to yesterday. overnight if you shows a list of scotla nd overnight if you shows a list of scotland running across northern england towards northern ireland. still some in the far south east. a touch of frost here and there. in north—west scotland could be down to —4 in some spots into the morning. sunny spells to come here tomorrow. tomorrow northern ireland you may see a show especially in the east. sure are scattered about recent scotla nd sure are scattered about recent scotland in eastern england. and many western part of wales and scotla nd many western part of wales and scotland and england will see sunshine, if anything sunnier than today. some mist and fog and a touch of frost coming to tuesday morning but weather fronts coming in to tuesday and wednesday, low pressure from the atlantic taking over and wet and windy but milder weather as our ear direction changes from east toa our ear direction changes from east to a south—westerly. again the milderfeel to a south—westerly. again the milder feel will to a south—westerly. again the milderfeel will be to a south—westerly. again the milder feel will be offset much stronger winds. he has a flavour of

things for tuesday and wednesday. tuesday, rain spreading from the south—west and we will all see wet weather on some stage on wednesday and there will be deals, severe gales in places in the north and north—west. —— deals. potentially destructive winds particularly on wednesday milder. much more weather for the week ahead available on a website. —— i were website. —— on our website, —— on our website.