British Prime Minister Theresa May assured on Friday 14 December, leaving Brussels, that the Twenty-Seven had agreed to consider "additional assurances" regarding the ratification process in the British Parliament of the agreement approved on 25 November (see EUROPE 12145) and that they would work together to find these additional elements in "the coming days".
According to Mrs May, the conclusions reached on Thursday evening "move us forward and are welcome”. They constitute the “clearest statement we have had so far" that the safety net for Ireland will be strictly necessary and limited in time. Mrs May also welcomed the readiness of the Twenty-seven to “work quickly with us and to start these negotiations quickly (on the future relationship)" . “I reiterated that it was in the interest of both [parties] to get this deal through," added Mrs May.
The President of the European Council, Donald Tusk, seemed to confirm this reading of the facts by stating, at the end of the Summit, that it was "clear from the beginning that we want to facilitate the ratification of the process” while several sources reported contrasting exchanges between the Twenty-seven and Mrs May. Thursday evening's conclusions are "quite clear, I think", and "a good sign that we are ready to reconfirm our assurances and our good will and good faith regarding the 'safety net, Donald Tusk said. The Pole assured that he remains available for Mrs May, even if he has no mandate to renegotiate anything, he also reiterated.
Mrs May was speaking after a first evening of work on Thursday 13 December, during which the Twenty-seven agreed to clarify the scope of the backstop for Ireland, which should be designed solely as an insurance policy, to be activated if necessary and only on a temporary basis. They also indicated their willingness to accelerate the preparation of a free trade agreement before 31 December 2020.
For Irish Prime Minister Leo Varadkar, it was important to ensure with this 'backstop' that no party would be in a position to “use the threat of a physical border as a lever for negotiating the future relationship”.
The Twenty-seven nevertheless dialled back their language on Thursday evening by deleting the paragraph on these "additional insurances".
According to various sources, Mrs May was not precise enough about how she intended to convince her parliament and the voting timetable envisaged.
The President of the Commission, Jean-Claude Juncker, had himself described the British requests as "nebulous" on Thursday evening, which led to a "robust" discussion with Mrs May the next day, the British leader said Thursday at noon.
The latter did not appreciate the word and wanted to clarify to President Juncker that he was referring to the "general level of the debate" and not exclusively to him, she explained to journalists.
Jean-Claude Juncker confirmed this exchange on Friday, stating that he was talking about the general debate in the British Parliament, which "we donot know where it is going". The President of the Commission noted the British House of Commons' great mistrust of the EU's intentions and reiterated on Friday that the Twenty-seven were determined to start negotiating the future trade agreement quickly once the withdrawal agreement had been ratified by both parliaments. He also reiterated his "greatest respect for Mrs May". (Original version in French by Solenn Paulic with Camille Cerise Gessant)