Sign up here to receive the daily news briefing in your inbox every morning with exclusive insight from the BrexitCentral team UK and EU agree terms for Brexit transition period… The UK and EU have agreed on a “large part” of the agreement that will lead to the “orderly withdrawal” of the UK. Negotiators Michel Barnier and David Davis said the deal on what the UK calls the implementation period was a “decisive step” in the Brexit process. – BBC News Deal is done – but work remains – Laura Kuenssberg for BBC News UK-EU agreement on the transition takes us one step closer to a smooth Brexit – Aarti Shankar for Open Europe Brexit’s ‘Big Mo’ – Politico We were told progress on Brexit was impossible, but it keeps happening – thanks to compromise on both sides – Henry Newman for ConservativeHome ‘Oh thank you Mr Barnier!’ Nigel Farage mocks Brussels agreement – Express Transition agreed, time to look to the future – Rachel Cunliffe for City A.M. > Read on BrexitCentral: David Davis’ statement: EU-UK Article 50 negotiations > Watch on BrexitCentral’s YouTube Channel: Davis & Barnier: March Press Conference (full) …but there is anger over fishing concessions… Scottish Tory MPs have been called in to see chief whip Julian Smith over the rebellion over the fishing deal. Douglas Ross MP said “it would be easier to get someone to drink a pint of cold sick than to try to sell this as a success.” and Fishing for Leave said David Davis “should stay in Brussels as his allegiance is obviously to the EU ring of stars not Her Majesty the Queen or the British people.” – Guido Fawkes Ruth Davidson warns PM to protect fishing in final Brexit deal after transition denounced as ‘betrayal’ – Telegraph (£) EU implementation agreement ‘betrays’ UK fishermen – BBC News Scottish fishermen who backed Brexit, and elected Tory MPs, ‘let down’ by transition agreement – Alan Cochrane for the Telegraph (£) Brexiteers smell something fishy in the transition agreement – Katy Balls for The Spectator Tory chief whip Julian Smith angers his MPs by telling them: ‘Fishermen don’t vote Labour’ – PoliticsHome > Ross Thomson MP on BrexitCentral: Staying in the Common Fisheries Policy during the implementation period is unacceptable > Yesterday on BrexitCentral: We’ll be caught hook, line, and sinker if we don’t exclude fishing from the transition deal …a climbdown on free movement during the transition period… In a climbdown by Britain, EU citizens arriving in Britain after Brexit will be entitled to automatic residency rights, including for future spouses and children, until the end of the transition period on December 31, 2020. In return the EU agreed to allow Britain to negotiate and sign trade deals during the transition, giving the government a concession for Eurosceptics… At the end of January Mrs May insisted that new EU migrants would be treated “differently”, but after bruising talks, marked by British desperation to secure a transition deal, Mr Barnier said there was now agreement. “We agreed that British citizens and European citizens of the 27 who arrive during that transition period will receive the same rights and guarantees as those who arrived before Brexit,” he said. – The Times (£) …and still no agreement on the Irish border… The EU and UK have not reached agreement on the Irish border despite “decisive” progress on other Brexit issues. The EU’s negotiator Michel Barnier said the two sides had agreed on a transition period. It will begin from Brexit day – 29 March 2019 – and is designed to smooth the path to the future permanent relationship. The so-called backstop option for the Irish border remains a sticking point. – BBC News How to fix the Irish border problem – Shanker Singham for CapX This ‘status quo’ Brexit transition deal gives Theresa May some breathing space – but major collision over Ireland is imminent – Peter Foster for the Telegraph (£) Northern Ireland could be the issue over which Brexit talks collapse – Jonathan Powell for the Independent Michel Barnier and David Davis have yet to solve the Irish border question – Sarah Arnold for the Telegraph (£) …but the EU concedes to allow the UK to sign trade deals Brexit talks have so far provided little in the way of triumph for Mr Davis and the Brexit secretary was quick to trumpet an EU concession allowing Britain to “negotiate, sign and ratify international agreements” immediately after Brexit. “The UK will be able to step out, sign and ratify new trade deals with old friends, and new allies, around the globe for the first time in more than 40 years,” he said. “These will come into force when the implementation period is over, seizing one of Brexit’s greatest opportunities.” – The Times (£) > Hugh Bennett’s essential analysis on BrexitCentral today: March Brexit Deal – ‘decisive’ or divisive? Jacob Rees-Mogg to fling fish from trawler on Thames in protest for fishermen ‘betrayed’ by the Brexit deal Theresa May is facing a Brexit backlash from Tory MPs over her “abject betrayal” of Britain’s fishermen with rebels planning a fishing boat protest on the Thames. Jacob Rees-Mogg, leader of a 60-strong group of Eurosceptic Conservative MPs, and others are due to board a boat and pass by Parliament throwing fish into the Thames in protest at the alleged “sellout”. A Brexit transition deal agreed with Brussels allows the EU to maintain control of Britain’s territorial waters until the end of 2020, which protesters described as “a potential death sentence” for the British fishing fleet.” – Telegraph (£) Britain pulls out of EU defence force The U.K. has withdrawn its offer to lead a battle-ready EU military force after Brexit, the first concrete example of the impact of the country’s EU exit on European defence cooperation. In a letter obtained by Politico, the U.K. informed the chairman of the EU military committee last Wednesday that it would no longer be the lead nation in a 1,500-strong “battlegroup” for EU defence in 2019 because of ongoing uncertainty over Britain’s withdrawal from the European Union. Britain’s decision comes despite Prime Minister Theresa May’s insistence that the U.K.’s commitment to European security is “unconditional.” – Politico Brussels avoids blaming Russia for spy attack… The European Union has offered “unqualified solidarity” to Britain but has fallen short of backing British allegations that Russia and President Putin are responsible for the Salisbury nerve agent attack. A statement by European foreign ministers today “calls on Russia to address urgently the questions raised by the UK” and committed the EU “to remain closely focused on this issue and its implications”. Reflecting European divisions over possible sanctions against Russia, the EU statement fell short of last week’s joint communiqué by France, Germany, the United States and Britain that “there was no plausible alternative” to Russian responsibility. – The Times (£) …as Irish ambassador to the UK has said the response to Salisbury-style attacks could change post-Brexit Brexit could change the way the EU responds to a Salisbury-style attack in the UK, Ireland’s ambassador to the UK has said. Adrian O’Neill told The Westminster Hour that “being part of the club may be just makes it easier to coordinate a more coherent response.” – BBC Radio 4 Germany torpedoes EU sanctions on its ‘important partner’ Russia – The Sun > Sir Gerald Howarth on BrexitCentral yesterday: The UK’s disproportionate contribution to European security should be a powerful negotiating card Telegraph: The Brexit transition agreement could yet lead Britain into another cul-de-sac The agreement reached between the UK and the EU setting out arrangements for the transition period ending on Dec 31 2020 leaves many thorny issues unresolved. David Davis called it a decisive step on the road to Brexit; but it could yet lead into another cul-de-sac. – Telegraph editorial (£) Times: The transition deal offers hope of an orderly withdrawal Britain and Europe have agreed to disagree on the two most formidable obstacles to a smooth Brexit, and to move on in the expectation that they will somehow be overcome. Four months ago this would have seemed unrealistic in the extreme, but as EU leaders prepare to sign off on a transition deal this week, the mood has changed to one of cautious optimism. – The Times editorial (£) Sun: Brexit transition deal is NOT a betrayal – you can’t get everything you want The Sun will not be among those calling Britain’s Brexit transition deal with the EU a betrayal. No one gets everything they want from a negotiation. We entirely sympathise with Scottish fishermen, and their MPs, furious that we will not take back control of our waters immediately. But the agreement could not be struck without giving way on that. – The Sun editorial Express: Britain is on course for a Brexit dream come 2020 Despite the misgivings, most Eurosceptic Tories were yesterday quietly cheered by the Davis-Barnier handshake. Their agreement makes a final Brexit deal far more likely and shows the Government is making progress in the negotiations that so many of their opponents claimed was bordering on the impossible. Mr Davis, whose unruffled and relaxed approach to the talks has sometimes drawn stinging jibes from his foes, is increasingly being seen by Tory MPs as a politician who has proved his doubters wrong. – Express editorial Shanker Singham: How to fix the Irish border problem The UK leaving the EU will mean the reintroduction of a customs border between Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland, and between the Republic of Ireland and Great Britain. This entails a number of changes which could cause difficulties and delays for businesses and individuals on both sides of the Irish sea and land border. Potential solutions to these problems exist, but are mischaracterised by people who seem determined to deny that they could work. The discussion, more than any in Brexit is plagued with inaccurate assumptions, emotional responses and misreporting. – Shanker Singham for CapX Comment in Brief The global free trade deals that could hinder Labour’s grand plans – Juliet Samuel for the Telegraph (£) The EU depends on Russian gas – John Redwood’s Diary EU fiddles as Rome burns – Tim Hedges for The Commentator The Brexit effect: UK-focused shares look their cheapest in a decade – Sue Noffke for City A.M. News in Brief Martin Selmayr’s Wikipedia edited ahead of promotion – Spectator Eurocrats open up London embassy to pro-EU activists in order to organise anti-Brexit campaigns – The Sun Tariff cut will not offset rise in prices, claims think tank – The Times (£) EU negotiator Barnier backs Spain’s bid to snatch back Gibraltar – Express Ukip face going bust after being ordered to pay £175,000 in two weeks after libel case – PoliticsHome