On Wednesday 30 April, the Member States gave a generally positive assessment of the first draft joint statement prepared by the United Kingdom for the EU-UK Summit on 19 May (see EUROPE 13630/14).
Some Member States, however, wanted stronger language on support for Ukraine, while others wanted a closer match with the official EU language on the issue. The same remarks were made for the section devoted to the Middle East, even if, on the whole, this first draft did not raise any opposition and was not considered controversial.
Alongside this discussion on the draft joint statement, which will now be amended with the comments of the Member States, the permanent representatives discussed more generally possible new areas of cooperation with London, and here the discussion proved to be more sensitive, according to one source.
This exchange process is intended to accompany a ‘common understanding’ project with the United Kingdom that the Commission is currently preparing. And another draft document for 19 May concerns the future Security and Defence Pact, prepared by the European External Action Service.
While the atmosphere has been generally positive and exchanges between the two parties have so far been constructive, some areas raise more questions than others.
On the question of fishing and the possibility of extending fishing rights in British waters, possibly by two years as London has reportedly proposed, a group of Member States, for example, wants to go further and defend access for European fishers “for as long as possible; a two-year extension is deemed unacceptable by many”, continues this source.
“On fisheries, the atmosphere seems constructive, but the parameters still need to be stabilised with our British partners”, stresses another diplomatic source.
Mobility schemes for young people, for example via Erasmus, are also of the utmost importance to the EU, but the British are more reticent. Discussions focused in particular on the issue of fees for access to British schools by young Europeans; the United Kingdom also raised the idea of quotas, which were rejected by the Europeans.
The Member States have also insisted that all the discussions form part of a ‘package’ that also includes energy, migration and future economic and trade developments, such as the development of the Trade and Cooperation Agreement.
However, not all the points were discussed in detail on Wednesday, as the ambassadors are due to return to them on 7 May. First drafts of the Common Understanding and the Defence and Security Pact could also be submitted by then.
With regard to the draft joint statement with the United Kingdom, a new draft text will also be presented to the ambassadors for validation, and then sent back to the British government, explains a source. (Original version in French by Solenn Paulic)