Post-Brexit relationship 'agreed in principle'
BRITAIN and the EU reached “agreement in principle” about the future relationship between the UK and the European bloc yesterday (Thursday) afternoon.
The announcement paves the way for a Brexit deal to be finalised this weekend in Brussels between the British government and the 27 remaining EU member states.
The future relationship draft is an outline of how trade, security, and a host of other issues will work – and at just over two dozen pages is much shorter and less complex than the controversial withdrawal agreement, which weighed in at 585 pages.
The news came after Prime Minister Theresa May met with Jean Claude Junker, President of the European Commission on Wednesday evening – and civil servants worked on the draft through the night.
A special summit of EU leaders will discuss the Brexit deal at a special summit on Sunday; although the withdrawal agreement has still to win approval by Britain’s parliament.
Downing Street said Mrs May had already briefed her Cabinet in a conference call and the Premier later said: “The British people want this to be settled; they want a good deal for the future of our nation – and I have undertaken to deliver it.”
The withdrawal agreement is a legally-binding document and covers such things as the £39 billion ‘divorce bill’; citizens’ rights, the Northern Ireland ‘backstop’ bid to keep borders open.
The future relationship papers are a separate matter; it is not legally-binding and outlines aspirations of the kind of relationship between the UK and EU after the parting of the ways.