#Brexit: UK and EU-27 make ‘decisive progress’ paving the way to a 21-month transition deal

After a weekend of intense negotiations, the European Commission’s Chief Brexit Negotiator Michel Barnier announced that the UK and EU-27 have reached a ‘decisive stage’ in the negotiations, writes Catherine Feore.

Standing in front of a slide showing where agreement had been reached (green), where there was agreement on policy – but clarification was needed (yellow) and where agreement had not been reached either because of disagreement or a need to go into more depth to find solutions (white), Barnier pointed to the enormous progress made in a short amount of time.

Financial settlement and citizens’ rights

Barnier said that two of the three main issues had been agreed: the financial settlement and citizens’ rights. On citizens’ right the UK has accepted that those citizens moving to the UK up until the end of the transition period will have the rights accorded to those EU citizens currently. Importantly, the UK has acknowledged the jurisdiction of the European Court of Justice on these questions.

Irish border

The one area critical to success is progress on the issues of Ireland and Northern Ireland, where workable and practical solutions need to be found to avoid a hard border. While Prime Minister May made an outright rejection of the backstop agreement proposed by the Commission, it appears - again – that the UK has capitulated on this point and will agree to a backstop in the legal text with the hope that a series of meetings in the near future will help resolve these questions. Barnier said: “Both sides remain committed to December's Joint Report in all its aspects – all.”

Some agreement has been reached on parts of the Commission’s proposed protocol on Northern Ireland/Ireland, notably the Common Travel Area and North-South co-operation.

Transition

The EU-27 has agreed to the transitional period, but it will not be extended beyond the end of 2020. The UK was hoping for a further three months, with the possibility of an extension. While David Davis welcomed this development as providing stability to business, others in the business community have been more measured, saying that they welcome the certainty but they still need to be reassured that the UK will not be facing a further cliff edge on 1 January 2021. Barnier said that it was his aim to start the discussion on the future relationship without delay and in parallel to other discussions, aiming for an agreement to be in place by the end of transition.

Global Britain

Are there any victories that the UK can point to? Well, a small amendment will allow the UK to negotiate, sign and ratify international agreements (trade included) in areas that are the exclusive competence of the EU, with the proviso that those agreements do not enter into force or apply during the transitional period, unless authorized by the EU. This symbolic victory is unlikely to excite the UK’s future trade partners - they will be more concerned by what degree of regulatory alignment the UK will have after 2020.

What next?

The next stage is for the text to be presented to the EU-27 heads of government on Friday (23 March). The fact that a smiling Tanaiste (Irish word for Deputy Prime Minister) Simon Coveney appears to be satisfied with the proposed text, suggests that agreement will be reached.

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