Negotiations on the EU's future relationship with the United Kingdom will in principle be briefly discussed at the European Summit, with President Charles Michel expected to give an update on Friday 2 October at the end of the meeting.
But Irish Prime Minister Micheál Martin will be invited to express Ireland's “views” on the issue as the British Parliament passed a bill on Tuesday evening that contradicts certain provisions of the withdrawal agreement, including the protocol on Northern Ireland.
The “music” has been “better” in recent days on the subject of future relations, one diplomat said.
“Two weeks ago, the atmosphere was very negative, with a situation of risk of exit without agreement, but since then, signals have been sent that suggest a more optimistic scenario”, the diplomat adds.
Is the EU-27 therefore ready to enter this famous negotiating tunnel that could lead to an agreement by mid-October? “We will see at the end of this week”, adds this source (particularly after Michel Barnier's assessment of the new round of negotiations), which said it is “confident” that this agreement with London will be reached before the end of October.
The Irish Foreign Minister, Simon Coveney, had in any case indicated in the morning that an agreement on the future relationship would make the British law and its assumed violations inoperative by providing the necessary solutions.
This British legislation “remains a real issue for Europeans and you will have unity and solidarity” between member states, another diplomatic source said, adding that the next summit will be the best framework to assess the situation with London.
Controversial text adopted
British MPs in the House of Commons approved the controversial Internal Market Bill of the Boris Johnson government on the evening of Tuesday 29 September. This text, which provides for possible derogations from the divorce agreement, was approved by 340 votes to 253. It still has to go through the House of Lords.
The text revisits several points in the agreement on the withdrawal of the United Kingdom from the European Union (EU), in particular certain provisions for the province of Northern Ireland. The Commission could launch a letter of formal notice agains the UK during the post-Brexit transition period, one source said, referring to this only as a possibility and not as a definite intention of the Commission at this stage. (Original version in French by Solenn Paulic with Camille Cerise Gessant)