At the European summit of Thursday 14 December, the British Prime Minister, Theresa May, secured her partners' approval to start the second phase of talks on the withdrawal of the United Kingdom from the European Union. This positive assessment is to be formally confirmed by the Twenty-Seven.
Upon her departure, May spoke of “very useful discussions” with her opposite numbers, who for their part welcomed her efforts during this first phase. The British leader said that she was looking forward to starting these new discussions on the future of her country's relationship with the EU.
Christian Kern, the Austrian Chancellor, reported that the meeting with May had been “very constructive”, adding that the British leader was not at all weakened by the vote at the British Parliament on Wednesday, when the British MPs decided, in an amendment to the Brexit bill, that they would have a right of veto over the final agreement reached with the EU.
This Friday, therefore, the leaders of the Twenty-Seven will rubber-stamp the move to the phase of talks on the transition period and future partnership. During this session, they are also expected to call upon London to stick to the commitments made during the first phase, those listed on 8 December in the draft joint agreement approved by May and the President of the European Commission, Jean-Claude Juncker (see EUROPE 11922).
“We were clear that Theresa May has made good offers that could prompt the Twenty-Seven to say tomorrow that there is sufficient progress”, commented the German Chancellor, Angela Merkel, following the dinner. “However, there are still open questions and time is pressing, we will discuss this tomorrow”, she added.
Upon his arrival in Brussels, the Dutch Prime Minister, Mark Rutte, stressed the importance of translating these commitments into a binding legal text as soon as possible, to avoid any misunderstandings over what was the subject of an agreement on 8 December. We need to hear what May has to say about how she sees the next steps, he added.
The President of the European Council, Donald Tusk, said that this second phase of negotiations would be the real test of the unity of the Twenty-Seven.
The Luxembourg Prime Minister, Xavier Bettel, expressed concern at the domestic British situation following the vote lost by the government in the House of Commons. He considers that this will make May's life even more complicated.
May, who said that she was “disappointed” by the results of the MPs' vote, stressed that the British government was on track to keep its promises.
“No matter who negotiates, we have work to do. We are pleased that the first phase is over”, said Dalia Grybauskaitė, the Lithuanian President, following this first day of the Summit. (Original version in French by Solenn Paulic with the editorial team)