The European Commission promised MEPs meeting in the Committees on International Trade (INTA) and Foreign Affairs (AFET), on Friday 5 February, the greatest possible transparency on the implementation of the Trade and Cooperation Agreement with the United Kingdom.
While the European Parliament has planned to write a letter to the Commission in the next few days formally asking it to guarantee its very close involvement, the Commission has undertaken to inform Parliament after each joint meeting with the UK, in the same way it does the Council of the EU.
These assurances were given by representatives of the EU-United Kingdom working group and the European External Action Service, who spoke during the presentation by Kati Piri (S&D, Netherlands) and Christophe Hansen (EPP, Luxembourg) of their forthcoming resolution to ratify the agreement. Ratification will take place through a draft recommendation to approve this agreement and a political resolution will accompany it.
The ratification date has not yet been set, but it seems to be beyond doubt for Bernd Lange, the German (S&D) Chair of the Committee on International Trade, who has put forward 23 February as a date in plenary.
For him, the period of provisional application of the Trade and Cooperation Agreement, which in principle is due to end on 28 February, will not be extended, he said. Another Parliament source told EUROPE on Thursday that the institution no longer wants to drag its feet in this procedure either, given the turmoil that has already occurred with the withdrawal agreement and the Northern Ireland protocol.
However, a second source indicated, on 4 February, that this decision still had to be taken at the next Conference of Group Chairmen of Parliament.
On the substance, the two competent rapporteurs returned on Friday to the various opinions delivered by the committees and debated the day before (see EUROPE 12651/6). In particular, the Committee on Constitutional Affairs is calling for an inter-institutional agreement between the Parliament and the Commission to ensure that it is treated on an equal footing with the Council of the EU (see EUROPE 12651/7). In particular, it wants the Parliament to give its consent to every substantial amendment to the bilateral trade agreement and to have access to the same information as the Member States.
They want to take into account all the concerns raised, including Parliament’s fear of being sidelined in monitoring the agreement, doubts about the UK’s loyalty and the frustrations felt, for example, with regard to foreign policy and defence, which are not included in the cooperation agreed with London.
Mrs Piri will thus insist on her wish that the United Kingdom should, in spite of everything, keep a sanctions policy close, if not “aligned” with that of the EU.
During this discussion, some elected representatives also returned to the difficulties encountered with the Northern Ireland protocol, including France’s Nathalie Loiseau (Renew Europe), who fears that the United Kingdom is “exploiting” the difficulties encountered as a reason for not applying the protocol.
The Commission wanted to be very clear on the full application of the protocol, which brings “clarity and stability” to the various actors on the island of Ireland. The subject will be discussed again next week in a joint committee, with Maroš Šefčovič this time travelling to London.
Link to the draft recommendation: https://bit.ly/2Mup58N (Original version in French by Solenn Paulic)