In a draft resolution that will be put to a vote on Wednesday 13 December following a debate, the MEPs are holding the British government to the commitments made in the first phase of negotiations on the divorce between the United Kingdom and the European Union.
In Brussels on Friday 8 December, the British Prime Minister, Theresa May, and the President of the European Commission, Jean-Claude Juncker, announced an agreement on the three priority questions: respecting the rights of European and British citizens post-Brexit, the budgetary balance of the withdrawal and the question of the border between the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland (see EUROPE 11922). Noting sufficient progress in the first phase of negotiations, the joint report of the two sides has to be approved by the Twenty-Seven at the European Council on Thursday 14 December (see other article).
This stage will open the door to launch the second phase of negotiations on a transition period of around two years and on future relations between the EU and the UK, on trade, amongst other things.
At the European Parliament, most of the political groups were reasonably satisfied with the content of the joint report. However, they expressed concern, on Tuesday 12 December, at recent comments by David Davis, the British minister responsible for Brexit, to the effect that the agreement reached is only a statement of intentions which is not legally binding. Moreover, Davis has expressed reluctance for the UK to honour its financial commitments until the negotiations as a whole have been concluded.
Speaking before the press, the chair of the Liberal group, Belgium’s Guy Verhofstadt, said that such a comment may call into question the trust needed in negotiations of this kind.
The debate is expected to concentrate on this particular point, as all political groups have argued in favour of the British government respecting the agreements.
Two amendments have been tabled to the joint draft resolution, which was submitted by five political groups (EPP, S&D, ALDE, GUE/NGL and Greens/EFA), and these will also be voted upon by the Parliament on Wednesday. They will stress the need for the agreement between the Commission and May’s government to be binding and for the British commitments to be translated into the withdrawal agreement at the earliest opportunity.
A withdrawal agreement that is acceptable to the main political families
Overall, the content of the agreement has been welcomed by the various political families. Gianni Pittella (S&D, Italy) has announced that the members of his group are “satisfied” with the agreement reached.
Despite calling for clarifications and clear definitions of administrative procedures, the principal political groups welcomed the fact that the social and economic rights of residents on either side of the channel will be guaranteed by this agreement from April 2019.
On the Irish question, the groups call for a return to a physical border between the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland to be avoided and for the Good Friday Agreement of 1998 to be respected. Gabriele Zimmer (GUE/NGL, Germany) particularly stressed this point. The joint report does not really offer a concrete solution to the Irish question. It sets out an ultimate principle if no creative solution can be found in time, which is for the UK to align itself in full on the rules of the single market of the EU.
On a potential transitional period, Manfred Weber (EPP, Germany), said that significant progress in the talks over the coming months would be an absolute prerequisite for Parliament to consider it. Zimmer argued that the entire Community acquis should apply to the UK during such a transitional period.
Link to the draft resolution: http://bit.ly/2l2Flzo (Original version in French by Lucas Tripoteau)