On Wednesday 7 May, the permanent representatives of the Member States to the EU continued their discussions ahead of the UK-EU Summit, to be held in London on 19 May, on the basis of a revised version of a draft Joint Declaration, as well as a first draft of the Security and Defence Pact and a ‘Common Understanding’, which will identify future areas of convergence between the two parties, as well as formalising certain agreements, such as a possible agreement on continued access for European fisheries to British waters.
These three documents are due to be signed and formalised on 19 May. While the discussion did not focus substantially on the draft Joint declaration, which confines itself to general messages, the Member States took the opportunity to reaffirm their expectations on the more sensitive issues of fisheries, defence, energy, youth mobility and London’s demands for greater flexibility in controls on British products exported to the EU.
While discussions are still at an early stage, Member States have insisted that London must first comply with existing agreements, such as the Withdrawal Agreement, Trade and Cooperation Agreement and the Windsor Protocol, before making any further gestures towards London. Member States welcome the fact that the Joint Declaration calls for the full implementation of existing agreements, which remain the foundation of the EU-UK relationship.
On the topic of fisheries, the countries most concerned also reiterated their desire to preserve the status quo in terms of the current quotas and access granted to European fisheries, but “for as long as possible”, as one source put it. London has reportedly sent positive signals about the status quo, but the question of how long this situation will last is far from settled.
For some Member States, this discussion on the duration of access for fisheries is also linked to London’s desire to relax sanitary and phytosanitary controls.
The same link with fisheries, albeit more tenuous, is assumed with regard to the Defence and Security Pact, which some believe cannot be signed without the rest of the conflicting issues being resolved.
The same applies to mobility schemes for young people, about which the UK is very cautious, publicly associating them with a new form of illegal immigration into the EU.
London’s position on youth mobility, which would also refuse, for symbolic reasons, to join a programme called ‘Erasmus’, is in any case currently considered unsatisfactory by the EU, which also rejects any British ‘cherry picking’.
Nick Thomas-Symonds, the Minister for European Relations, told the Financial Times on 7 May that the UK could set up a youth mobility programme with the EU, also formalized on 19 May.
The next discussion between the Member States, on Wednesday 14 May, should prove more crucial, just a few days before the Summit.
However, some diplomats think it likely that the various agreements on fisheries or the participation of the British defence industry in the SAFE programme will only come at the last minute. (Original version in French by Solenn Paulic)