U.K. and European Union officials are zeroing in on a solution to break the eight-month deadlock over one of the biggest obstacles to their planned trade deal.

In a sign that an agreement could be struck by the mid-November deadline set by both sides, a compromise is emerging on the issue of what access EU boats will have to UK fishing waters, according to two people with knowledge of the EU side of the discussions.

The potential solution would allow Britain to claim it has won back control of its seas — a key government demand — and pave the way for the country’s fishing industry to catch more than it does currently. Quotas would be set to the principle of zonal attachment, the formula the U.K. had been seeking.

But, significantly, decisions over EU boats’ exact allocations would be deferred until a later date — meaning they wouldn’t lose out immediately, and any disagreements over how the catch is divided up in the future wouldn’t necessarily torpedo the wider deal.

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