In a debate in the European Parliament on Tuesday 11 February, Michel Barnier, the EU's chief negotiator on future relations with the UK, stated that the UK authorities need to “say how far the UK intends to move away from the European Union's social, economic and regulatory model”.
And once the United Kingdom, as a sovereign power, has provided an answer to this question, it will then be possible to determine the level of ambition for future bilateral relations in areas such as trade, security and migration.
In preparation for the start of bilateral negotiations at the beginning of March, the European Union is offering the United Kingdom the most ambitious partnership possible, even if relations with a country that is no longer a Member State are unlikely to be completely frictionless.
Ursula von der Leyen, the President of the European Commission, stated that “we offered the British authorities something we had never offered before”, in reference to the draft mandate which was unveiled by Barnier at the beginning of February and which the General Affairs Council is expected to endorse on Tuesday 25 February (see EUROPE 12417/1).
She emphasised that the level of ambition in any future EU/UK cooperation agreement will nevertheless depend on the “guarantees” that London is able to provide in terms of “fair competition”, and recommended “upward dynamic competition” in the mutual interest of both partners. She went on to say, “this is not the time to lower rules in the environmental, social and competition sectors”.
On behalf of the Croatian Presidency of the EU Council, Nikolina Brnjac stressed that British access to the EU internal market cannot be to the detriment of European standards.
In response to questions from a number of MEPs, Barnier signalled his agreement. He stressed that “opening up our markets, allowing access to our data, and providing equivalence for financial services will be agreed in proportion to the joint commitments to abide by the level playing field”, “protection of citizens” and, lest we forget, “financial stability”.
The EU negotiator reiterated to Christel Schaldemose (S&D, Denmark), that reciprocal access to waters and markets will be “an intrinsic part” of the trade agreement. He told Danuta Huebner (EPP, Poland) that the EU would not negotiate on the equivalence of prudential financial regulations. There will not be a “general, comprehensive or permanent” decision made with regard to British and EU rules, he insisted, referring to a request that the British might be making to the EU Twenty-Seven, according to a leaked document in the British press. “We will retain control and autonomy with regard to decision-making” on this issue, he said.
In Tuesday's City AM newspaper, Sajid Javid, the British Chancellor of the Exchequer, promised that the UK would continue to apply and formulate the highest international standards of financial regulation. “We may choose to do things in the same way as the EU if it works for the UK. But there will be differences”, he also said, in reference to a joint assessment exercise regarding potential equivalence with the EU, the results of which are expected in June.
Barnier pointed out that Brexit should not affect the relationship between the United Kingdom and the EU within NATO. But he said that what will change will be future cooperation among the EU Twenty-Seven in terms of common security and defence within the EU.
European Parliament support for a close but rigorous relationship
During the debate, the European Parliament’s political groups called for a strong relationship to be maintained between the UK and the European Union. This close relationship is “logical” from a geographical point of view and “necessary” with regard to environmental and security issues, Barnier said. But it will also be “clear and rigorous with regard to the use that the United Kingdom makes of the new capacity for regulatory divergence that it aimed to get with Brexit”.
On behalf of the European Parliament Brexit Coordination Group (see EUROPE 12416/6), David McAllister (EPP, Germany) said that the resolution, which Parliament will adopt on Wednesday, was “balanced” (see EUROPE 12420/1). The European Parliament’s three guiding principles are as follows: - respect for the integrity of the single market and the four fundamental freedoms; - a non-Member State may not enjoy the same rights as a Member State; - the guarantee of fair competition rules is a “precondition” for the future relationship.
In these circumstances, we are ready for a trade agreement “with no tariffs, quotas or dumping”, he said.
Iratxe García Pérez (S&D, Spain), the chair of the S&D group, said that the UK will have to accept the jurisdiction of the European Court of Human Rights and the General Court of the European Union, and that Spain will have to have “the final word” on matters affecting Gibraltar. She stressed to the press that there was a “fairly broad consensus in the European Parliament” on the position the EU should be taking towards the UK.
Speaking on behalf of the Renew Europe group, French MEP Nathalie Loiseau spoke in favour of an “unprecedented” partnership with London, provided that the British accept an “unprecedented quid pro quo” in return. “The United Kingdom is not Japan or Canada”, she said, in reference to existing trade agreements with these two non-Member States.
Peter Kofod (Identity and Democracy, Denmark) said that the future EU/UK agreement must take account of the British requirement to act as a sovereign state. “The United Kingdom is not leaving Europe, it’s leaving the EU system”, he stressed. Nicolas Bay (ID, France) said that the EU should “engage in protectionism” with regard to London.
Speaking on behalf of the Greens-EFA group, Belgian MEP Philippe Lamberts urged the EU to be “creative”. While “free trade agreements are generally used to force standards down”, we could do the “complete opposite” in a given sector by applying the more ambitious standard of the two used by the partners to create “a kind of upward competition”. He noted that the UK has higher standards than the EU with regard to the environment and financial services.
Lastly, Martin Schirdewan (GUE-NGL, Germany) stressed the importance of both maintaining high standards of worker protection and of safeguarding the Good Friday peace agreement in Northern Ireland. Manuel Bompard (GUE-NGL, France) said that the GUE-NGL group will vote against the European Parliament resolution because “the mandate includes the free-trade principle, which we disagree with”.
Further discussions in the Council of the EU on the negotiating mandate
On Wednesday, Member States' ambassadors to the EU (Coreper) will continue to discuss the draft mandate submitted to them by the Commission.
At this stage, the text has changed little, with Member States merely clarifying certain elements. In particular, the text stresses that it is important that the United Kingdom continues to comply with the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR). The text recommends extensive judicial cooperation in marriage-related matters and in matters of parental responsibility in areas not covered by the Hague Convention. Furthermore, according to the revised draft mandate, the United Kingdom could - rather than 'should' - continue to participate in the encrypted service in the Galileo satellite navigation programme.
To consult the text discussed at the Council of the EU, go to: http://bit.ly/2SDuk4G (Original version in French by Mathieu Bion with Marion Fontana and Agathe Cherki)