The Commission proposed, on Wednesday 10 February, to extend until 30 April the period of provisional application of the trade and cooperation agreement that the European Union signed with the United Kingdom at the end of December.
Both parties had agreed on a provisional application running until 28 February. However, the Member States, which have to ratify the bilateral agreement, considered this deadline too short and even unrealistic (see EUROPE 12642/1).
The Commission justifies this request for extension, in particular, by the need to translate the Agreement and its annexes on classified information and EURATOM into 24 languages.
The European Parliament had also said it wanted more time to examine the agreement. But there has been some confusion in recent days, with MEPs now saying they are ready to validate the negotiations on 23 February, if necessary (see EUROPE 12652/3).
However, it is up to the United Kingdom to decide and this request will be made in the Partnership Council, whose date for the next meeting has not yet been decided.
On Thursday 11 February, a joint committee on the withdrawal agreement and the Northern Ireland Protocol will take place in London. During this joint committee, the Vice-President of the Commission, Maroš Šefčovič, is expected to make the request for an extension of the period of provisional application of the agreement to the British Minister, Michael Gove. The meeting will also aim to come back on the adjustments to the Northern Ireland protocol requested by London and viewed with caution by the European side (see EUROPE 12651/8).
The ambassadors of the Member States to the EU (Coreper) discussed all of these issues at breakfast with Mr Šefčovič on Wednesday. (Original version in French by Solenn Paulic)