At a press conference in Valletta with Malta's Prime Minister Joseph Muscat on Friday 31 March, European Council President Donald Tusk presented the draft guidelines to steer negotiations with the United Kingdom. These guidelines, which have been sent out to the 27 capitals, will be adopted on 29 April by the European leaders and, unsurprisingly, take a fairly tough line with London.
The EU27 want to go into the negotiations in a position of strength. Negotiating the divorce from the EU and the future trade relationship in parallel will not happen, Tusk immediately stressed, although London would like this to happen.
As the president stated on 29 March when he received the letter triggering Article 50 of the Treaty, the aim of these negotiations will be to limit the damage caused by Brexit.
Tusk started by stressing that it is the EU's duty to minimise uncertainty and disturbance caused by the UK's decision to leave the EU for the citizens, businesses and member states.
The guidelines presented by Tusk will be added to more sector-specifically by negotiating directives, which are to be adopted on 22 May and will constitute the mandate of the Commission's negotiator, Michel Barnier. They will be based around a few key principles.
First of all, we must think of the people, he said. Citizens from throughout the EU live, work and study in the UK and as long as it is a member, their rights will be fully protected. But we must resolve their status and situations after Brexit with reciprocal, enforceable and non-discriminatory guarantees, so that a Spaniard receives the same treatment as a Pole after Brexit, a European source in Brussels explained.
Secondly, we must ensure that there is no legal gap for our businesses as a result of the fact that after Brexit, EU laws will no longer apply in the UK. Thirdly, we must also ensure that the UK honours all of its commitments and financial commitments it made as a member state, a principle of fairness towards all of these people, scientists, farmers and so on whom we, the EU28, promised and owe this money. "For my part, I can guarantee that the EU will honour all its commitments", he pledged.
Fourthly, we will seek flexible and creative solutions to avoid a hard border between Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland. It is critical that we support the peace process in Northern Ireland, he added.
These four issues are part of the first phase of our negotiations, Tusk explained. Once we have made enough progress on withdrawal, we can discuss the framework of our future relationship. Parallel discussions on all matters at the same time, as some in the UK have suggested, will not happen, he stressed.
Trade talks to start in autumn?
Tusk went on to say that the EU27 might even be in a position to assess this progress by autumn, suggesting that talks on the future trade agreement could start then. However, a prerequisite for this will be that the EU27 have noted that matters have progressed well on the terms of the divorce between the two sides.
How will this progress be assessed? It will be a largely political estimation and solely for the European leaders, a European source said. The leaders will be the ones to set the criteria.
Under this timetable, however, the UK would only have a year to make progress on this future agreement. In December, Barnier said that keeping to the timetable laid down by Article 50 in order for Brexit to take place in March 2019 would mean that the talks would have to be wrapped up by October 2018.
The principles also state the expectations of the EU27 from this future trade agreement. There is no point in London seeking an agreement that would give its businesses a competitive advantage through state subsidies, or which would water down the environmental or social standards of the EU. Nor will the EU want its neighbour to reinvent itself as a tax haven. Any free-trade agreement must be balanced and assure fair competition conditions.
It's not about punishment
Tusk stressed that it is not the intention of the EU27 to punish the UK, which is already punishing itself by leaving the EU. However, the talks will be difficult, complex and we can even anticipate conflict. There is no way of avoiding this, he added.
Brexit will have consequences. Things will change, a European source in Brussels added, because it was the UK's decision to leave, not the EU's. There cannot fail to be disruptions.
The negotiations will be tough, Muscat agreed, but we are not going to war. It is in the interests of the EU27 and of the UK to remain close partners, but it is clear to the EU27 that EU membership must be the better option.
On Friday, the EU27 also said that although they were prepared for transition periods, to avoid London ending up a total legal void in certain areas once the divorce comes through, European law and institutions, including the judicial institutions, will take precedence.
In any case, Tusk was quite clear that the EU27 will maintain this tough line throughout the negotiations. "All 27 wish to remain united – this is not propaganda, it's the truth" – and although Theresa May will of course be in contact with all member states, they have agreed to refer consistently back to Barnier as single point of contact, Muscat stressed.
A "misunderstanding" over security, Tusk hopes
The Council president also referred to the row caused on Wednesday 29 March by May's letter, which referred to the risks to cooperation in security matters if talks on the free-trade agreement should break down. "This has to be a misunderstanding", Tusk said. A reasonable country like the UK would not use citizens and the terrorist threat as a bargaining chip, he observed.
The guidelines of the European Council are available at: http://bit.ly/2nmuDzd (Original version in French by Solenn Paulic)