The EU's Chief Negotiator on the United Kingdom's withdrawal from the European Union, Michel Barnier, informed the Twenty-Seven European Affairs Ministers meeting in the General Affairs Council (Article 50 format) on Monday 12 November in Brussels that an agreement “had not yet been reached” with London, although both sides are continuing "their intensive negotiating efforts".
The key issue to be resolved remains: how to avoid the return of a physical border between Ireland and Northern Ireland through a legal solution allowing the EU to retain control of its external border and the United Kingdom to regain its autonomy in its external trade relations.
At the end of the General Affairs Council (Article 50 format), the Austrian Minister for European Affairs, Gernot Blümel, reiterated the support of the Twenty-Seven for the European Commission's approach and their "determination" to keep the "unity" of the Member States. "We have reaffirmed our confidence in the negotiator," he said.
On Monday evening, Mr Blümel acknowledged that the negotiations had entered "a crucial phase", but that the progress made was not sufficient to convene a new ministerial meeting.
Michel Barnier did not wish to express himself publicly either on his arrival or at the end of the meeting. As negotiations are ongoing at the technical level in Brussels, both sides do not wish to do anything that would compromise a rapid breakthrough. The EU's Chief Negotiator will take stock of the situation with the College of European Commissioners on Tuesday 13 November in Strasbourg.
In recent days, progress seems to have been made. Work is progressing in particular on the idea of a backstop to temporarily maintain the customs union between the EU and the United Kingdom as a whole, with the possibility of leaving it. However, the two parties had not yet managed to establish all the details, including the conditions for leaving the customs union.
British Prime Minister Theresa May will meet with members of her cabinet on Tuesday with the aim of defining a clear British position. But the English press was less optimistic on Monday evening about the prospect of a major breakthrough, with divisions within the government being exposed.
According to the Financial Times, the idea of a common mechanism for revising the safety net was raised on Friday 9 November by EU negotiators with the ambassadors of the EU-27 (Coreper format 'Article 50'), including a review mechanism in July 2020. According to the newspaper, Ms May reportedly indicated that an agreement must be reached by Wednesday.
Otherwise, the deadlines will be too short to organise a special Brexit European summit by the end of November, as Mrs May wishes, in order to give the British Parliament enough time to examine and approve the agreement.
The question of how to interrupt this safety net was of great interest to European ministers. In the opinion that a "good agreement" on an orderly exit from the United Kingdom from the EU is possible even if there is "little time" left, the French Minister for European Affairs, Nathalie Loiseau, wanted to know the details of the backstop, particularly on the conditions of a post-Brexit customs union between the EU and the United Kingdom. In her view, any decision to terminate the Customs Union mechanism must be a "bilateral decision" and not just a London decision.
"This is a very important week for the negotiations", said Irish Minister Simon Coveney, for whom "both sides have been very involved”. But, for Belgian Minister Didier Reynders, the prospect of a special Brexit summit in November is fading away, as the December deadline seems more realistic. (Original version in French by Solenn Paulic)