The Courier & Advertiser (Fife Edition)
May overcomes biggest obstacle yet
Negotiations should now progress to phase two
Theresa May has passed her biggest hurdle yet on the road to Brexit, as the European Commission cleared the way for negotiations on the future relationship after the UK’s withdrawal from the EU.
Britain will pay a “divorce bill” of up to £39 billion under the terms of a withdrawal package agreed with Brussels.
The breakthrough was hailed by the Prime Minister as “a hard-won agreement in all our interests”.
Commission president Jean-Claude Juncker said it represented “sufficient progress” for negotiations to move on to their second phase, subject to approval by leaders of the remaining 27 EU states at a summit on December 14-15.
In dramatic pre-dawn scenes, Mrs May and Brexit Secretary David Davis flew to Brussels to confirm with Mr Juncker over breakfast the text of a joint document setting out proposals on the key withdrawal issues of citizens’ rights, the Irish border and Britain’s exit bill.
But the scene was set for further wrangling, as European Council president Donald Tusk set out guidelines for the next phase of talks, covering the transition to a post-Brexit relationship, which envisage the UK staying in the single market and customs union and observing all EU laws for around two years after the official withdrawal date in March 2019.
He said only “exploratory talks” on a free trade agreement could begin at this stage, with the EU’s chief Brexit negotiator Michel Barnier suggesting that “real negotiations” on trade would get under way once a withdrawal treaty is finalised in October.
Mr Barnier also threw cold water on Mrs May’s hopes for a “deep and special” trading relationship with the EU.
He warned that her “red lines” of taking the UK out of the single market, the customs union and the jurisdiction of the European Court of Justice left a free trade deal similar to Canada’s as the only option open to Britain.
There was consternation among some Brexit-backers over provisions allowing the European Court of Justice a role in overseeing EU citizens’ rights in the UK for eight years after Brexit.
However, Downing Street said they only expected around two or three cases a year to be referred voluntarily by UK judges to the Luxembourg court.
And a compromise on the Irish border, forged in intensive talks late on Thursday night after the Democratic Unionist Party blocked an earlier deal on Monday, states that if no trade deal is reached, the UK as a whole will maintain “full alignment” with elements of the EU single market and customs union which support the economy of the island of Ireland and the Good Friday Agreement.
Tory former Brexit minister David Jones warned this could “severely handicap” Britain’s ability to enter free trade agreements covering areas like agriculture with countries outside the EU, like the US.
But Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson insisted the PM was determined to ensure the measure’s “compatibility with taking back control of our money, laws and borders”.
Mr Johnson and fellow Cabinet Brexiteer Michael Gove gave their public blessing to the deal, with the Environment Secretary describing it as a “significant personal political achievement for the Prime Minister” which would make more money available for the NHS.
The development was also welcomed by business leaders, who had warned that companies would begin activating plans to move staff and activities abroad if no progress was made by Christmas. The pound rose on the announcement.
In a Brussels press conference, Mrs May said the process of arriving at a withdrawal deal “hasn’t been easy for either side”, but the agreement was a “significant improvement” on the text she was preparing to sign off on Monday.
Provisions on citizens’ rights would allow EU nationals in the United Kingdom “to go on living their lives as before”.
Meanwhile, the financial settlement would be “fair to the British taxpayer” and the agreement on Ireland would guarantee there would be “no hard border” between Northern Ireland and the Republic.