The Ministers for European Affairs of the EU Member States, meeting in Article 50 format, approved on Monday 19 November in Brussels the draft agreement concluded on Wednesday 14 November by the EU's Chief Negotiator, Michel Barnier, and the British Government of Theresa May (see EUROPE 12136), generally considering it to be a ‘fair agreement’, as stressed by the Austrian Minister for European Affairs, Gernot Blümel. Michel Barnier also indicated, at the end of this meeting, that he had received ‘the support’ of the Member States.
European ministers also endorsed the principle of renewing the transition period "for once", explained Michel Barnier. His team should also put together a firm proposal on this subject this week, he said, the idea being to allow London to obtain a new transitional phase at the end of the first phase - scheduled until 31 December 2020 - if this is necessary to finalise the future relationship. According to what the negotiator had suggested on Friday 16 November, according to the Financial Times, this renewed transition period would run until the end of 2022 and would be agreed with London.
Michel Barnier stressed on Monday morning that this transition period and its possible renewal must be limited in time in order to reduce as much as possible the period of uncertainty about the future.
On Monday, the ministers were to prepare for the meeting of Heads of State or Government on Sunday 25 November. This should give the final green light to the Twenty-Seven to the withdrawal agreement (which addresses in particular the question of citizens' rights, financial commitments and the Irish question) and to the draft political declaration on future relations.
Theresa May, who is fighting internally to keep the draft agreement afloat, could meet Jean-Claude Juncker this week in Brussels, if discussions on future relations make sufficient progress - says the Commission - before also coming to Brussels on Sunday 25 November.
This declaration on future relations could in any case be reduced from seven to about twenty pages, following the ongoing meetings between European and British negotiators. Without going into detail, on Monday, the ministers listed their expectations between the fisheries sector, which is important for France, Spain or even Germany, and cooperation on internal security. On the latter aspect, some countries are reportedly more flexible than others in terms of the United Kingdom's access to certain databases.
Madrid's increased attention to protocol on Gibraltar
While the Austrian minister insisted on the need to keep this unity of the Twenty-Seven, the common front nevertheless encountered some minor problems on Monday 19 November, particularly from Spain, which indicated that it might not approve the negotiation on Sunday 25 November if it did not obtain all the assurances on Gibraltar. Madrid would like to retain a kind of veto right, at least a right of scrutiny, over the application of the new transitional period, which it would not like to see applied in full to this territory. Madrid supposedly even has requirements to do so for the first official transition period. However, Minister Josep Borrell insisted on Monday morning that his country did not want to block the whole project, but that it was waiting until Sunday for legitimate guarantees to give its approval. (Original version in French by Solenn Paulic)