On Monday 29 January, the ministers for European affairs of the Twenty-Seven, agreed upon the outlines of the transition period to begin on 29 March 2019, when the withdrawal of the United Kingdom from the EU is to take effect.
By adopting the negotiation directives on this subject - in barely ten minutes, as the EU’s deputy negotiator, Sabine Weyand, tweeted - the ministers have shown extraordinary unity, the Bulgarian Foreign Minister, Ekaterina Zaharieva, pointed out.
In this mandate for the chief negotiator, Michel Barnier, the Twenty-Seven call, amongst other things, for the UK to remain a ‘passive’ member of the European club, required to observe the entire European acquis and the obligations stemming from it, but with no powers to take part in decision-making.
The entire acquis and the jurisdictional structure, in other words the competence of the European Court of Justice, will apply, Zaharieva and Barnier said after the meeting. London will also be required to apply any new rules entering into force during this transition period.
However, the UK will have no decision-making or representative powers in the EU institutions and bodies; no Commissioner, no MEPs, no representative in the European agencies.
The ministers also agreed upon the term proposed by the EU negotiator for the transitional period, which will run until 31 December 2020.
On trade, London will indeed be free to negotiate agreements with third-country partners, but will be unable to conclude them formally. During this period, the UK will also be required to respect the provisions of the free-trade agreements in place between the EU and third countries and with which the UK will continue to comply.
Barnier’s intention, which is also that of the British Brexit minister, David Davis (see EUROPE 11948), is to put these discussions on the transition period to bed before the European Council of late March, at which the heads of state or government will adopt new negotiation directives on the outlines of the future relationship between the EU and the UK, particularly regarding trade matters.
The British called upon to clarify their vision of future relations with EU
On Monday, Barnier reiterated that time was passing by quickly and that it was extremely important for London to finally set its aims for the future partnership. However, the negotiations will not be starting from absolute scratch, he added, as London has already said that it no longer wishes to be part of the single market or customs union.
For the EU, the priority in the negotiations to open in March will be to devise this future trade partnership, but also home affairs matters, Barnier said.
The EU negotiator also stressed that the results of the first phase of negotiations on withdrawal from the EU (budgetary balance, Ireland and citizens’ rights), which are still being discussed at expert level meetings, still need to be consolidated (see EUROPE 11927). Aspects related to data protection and the governance of the agreement must also be clarified.
The political commitments of the first phase of negotiations must be translated into a binding legal text. Compliance with the principles agreed upon during this first phase will inform the success of the talks during the second phase, as the European ministers reiterated on Monday when adopting the EU’s negotiation directives on the post-Brexit transition phase. (Original version in French by Solenn Paulic)