UK, EU agree on Brexit principles

: Pinned with the caveat that “nothing is agreed until everything is agreed”, Britain and the European Union on Friday finalised a set of principles on three key areas of Brexit, providing a reprieve for Prime Minister Theresa May, who has been under pressure to deliver.

Hobbled by a partner - the Democratic Unionist Party - on whose support her government is dependent to remain in power, May burnt the proverbial midnight oil before landing in Brussels for a breakfast meeting with European Commission president Jean Claude-Juncker.

May has also been under intense pressure from Brexit hardliners within her Conservative Party and outside, as well as the opposition Labour seeking a soft exit for Britain from the EU.

Both May and Claude-Juncker announced a “breakthrough” on the three areas of rights of EU citizens in the UK after Brexit, the so-called “divorce bill”, and future arrangements between Northern Ireland and Ireland. A 16-page “joint report” was released, setting out some details.

Given the slow, tortuous progress in talks since the EU referendum in 2016, the agreement is seen as a major step forward, but as Claude-Juncker and others cautioned, there is still a long way to go and the fine print of key areas is yet to be written.

The agreement claims “sufficient progress” has now been made, and sets out that EU citizens in the UK and UK citizens in the rest of the 28-nation bloc have the right to stay. Rights of their children and those of partners in existing “durable relationships” are also guaranteed.

This assurance is crucial to the future of thousands of Goan citizens who moved to the UK after acquiring Portuguese passports. The cut-off date for EU citizens guaranteed the right to remain in the UK will be the actual date of Britain’s withdrawal from the EU, likely to be March 2019.

The agreement also promises to ensure there will be no “hard border” between Ireland and Northern Ireland and to uphold the Belfast agreement. It makes clear the whole of the UK, including Northern Ireland, will leave the customs union. But it’s not clear how an open border will be achieved.

LONDON