Whereas prior agreements had to be renewed every few years, the new one has no fixed term.

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American mortgages are mostly long-term and fixed, with no penalties for early repayment.

ECONOMIST: American banks

Wales's Assembly, unlike the Westminster Parliament, is elected for a fixed term, so there is no possibility of new Assembly elections.

ECONOMIST: Wales

Mr Thomas said, with fixed term parliaments planned, there was no reason not to push for limits on annual expenditure at a national level - rather than simply in the run-up to an election.

BBC: Michael Farmer and Stuart Wheeler on donors & influence

Casual and charming, but careless of others, steeped in quiet judgment and long-term calculation, his life a fixed agenda that, no matter what happened, would continue on its set course, to whatever end he had decided he deserved.

NEWYORKER: The Bell Ringer

To avoid allowing a "zombie government" to stagger on for years, unable to muster a majority to pass any new laws, the Fixed Term Parliaments Bill, says an election will be called 14 days after a lost confidence vote if no alternative government is able to show they have the confidence of MPs.

BBC: Q&A: Fixed term parliaments