Prime Minister Theresa May used to say she would give “no running commentary” on the progress of Brexit.
For those who would like one, we’ve compiled a list of where the British and European sides currently stand on a dozen key topics, as EU leaders prepare to meet in Brussels to rubber-stamp their negotiating plan.
The sources are mainly May’s March 29 letter invoking Brexit and the EU’s draft negotiating guidelines as of April 24.
Rights of Citizens
U.K. Opening Stance: There should be an “aim to strike an early agreement about their rights,” said May.
EU Opening Stance: The topic should be the “first priority” for the negotiations and there should be “reciprocal guarantees” settled on the date of Brexit. They should be for citizens and their families and be non-discriminatory, said the guidelines. The rights should be exercised through “smooth and simple administrative procedures” and offer the “right to acquire permanent residency” after five years. The European Commission has suggested the rights should last for lifetimes and be enforceable by it and overseen by European courts. It also wants to apply any future changes of EU rules on benefits.
Free Movement of Labor
U.K. Opening Stance: May said in January that “we will ensure we can control immigration to Britain from Europe.” Still, she’s acknowledged the U.K. “will always want immigration from Europe,” especially of high-skilled workers. The prime minister pulled back a little further in April by saying “it will be necessary for there to be a period of time” for adjustment.
EU Opening Stance: The draft guidelines said the U.K. must accept free movement of labor if it wants to maintain access and is something it would need to accept in any transitional period.
Trade
U.K. Opening Stance: The U.K. “does not seek membership of the single market” and wants to be able to negotiate deals with non-EU countries. But it also wants a “bold and ambitious” free trade deal covering sectors including financial services and for commerce to be frictionless. May has said such a pact can be completed in two years and priority should be given to the “evolution of regulatory frameworks.” She does not want to “adopt a model already enjoyed by other countries” and has said that failure to seal a deal would leave Britain free to rethink its economic model. May indicated in April that she understands a trade deal may not be signed until after March 2019.
EU Opening Stance: The guidelines were revised having originally indicated backing for an ambitious pact. They changed to say officials stand “ready to initiate work towards an agreement on trade.” Any deal cannot “amount to membership of the single market” or allow for “sector by sector” participation. Any agreement can only be “finalized and concluded” once the U.K. has left and there should be safeguards against “unfair competitive advantages” through tax, social, environmental and regulatory measures.
Budget Payments
U.K. Opening Stance: May has said the U.K. will not send “huge” sums to Brussels although “there may be some specific European programs in which we might want to participate. If so, and this will be for us to decide, it is reasonable that we should make an appropriate contribution.”
EU Opening Stance: The U.K. must keep paying into the EU budget through a transitional period and can’t “cherry pick” what it wants from Europe, said the draft guidelines.
The Bill
U.K. Opening Stance: The U.K. is willing to agree to “a fair settlement of the U.K.’s rights and obligations,” according to May. The government has challenged sum and legality of a large bill. A House of Lords report suggested it could be as low as 15 billion euros.
EU Opening Stance: The EU is demanding a “single financial settlement” to cover “all commitments as well as liabilities, including contingent liabilities.” Issues related to the European Central Bank, European Investment Bank and the European Development Fund should also be settled. The payment should reflect “the whole period” of U.K. membership.
A sum of 60 billion euros ($64 billion) has been repeatedly mooted although Irish Finance Minister Michael Noonan told Bloomberg on April 18 that he saw “indications of a compromise position.”
Irish Border
U.K. Opening Stance: The U.K. has a “unique relationship” with the Republic of Ireland and wants to “avoid a return to a hard border” and “be able to maintain the Common Travel Area.”
EU Opening Stance: “Flexible and imaginative solutions will be required” with the aim “of avoiding a hard border, while respecting the integrity of the Union legal order.”
European Courts
U.K. Opening Stance: May vowed in January to “bring an end to the jurisdiction of the European Court of Justice in Britain.”
The Great Repeal Bill
However, on March 29 she appeared to soften her stance by acknowledging companies will “have to align with rules agreed by institutions of which we are no longer part.” The government’s Great Repeal Bill said the court’s case law would “be given the same binding, or precedent, status in our courts as decisions of our own Supreme Court.”
EU Opening Stance: The EU urged “legal certainty” and wanted to avoid a “legal vacuum.” It also said the U.K. will be subject to the court’s oversight during any transition. The European Commission has proposed the European Court of Justice police how citizens are treated beyond Brexit.
Gibraltar
U.K. Opening Stance: May said any dispute over the British territory will be resolved through dialogue and that “we are very clear that we continue to support Gibraltar.”
EU Opening Stance: No deal between the EU and U.K. will apply to Gibraltar without an agreement between Spain and the U.K., according to the EU.
Structure of Talks
U.K. Opening Stance: “It is necessary to agree the terms of our future partnership alongside those of our withdrawal,” according to May.
EU Opening Stance: The EU blueprint said the two sides must “settle the disentanglement” in a “phased approach” and only move to discussing trade once “sufficient progress” has been made on the split. The withdrawal agreement should address issues arising from reduced cooperation on judicial, law enforcement and security issues.
Transition
U.K. Opening Stance: Seeking to avoid a “cliff edge,” May said the U.K. and the EU would benefit from “implementation periods to adjust in a smooth and orderly way to new arrangements.” She argued it would help both sides “to minimize unnecessary disruption if we agree this principle early in the process.”
EU Opening Stance: The EU saw a benefit to potentially agreeing “transitional arrangements” so long as they are “clearly defined, limited in time and subject to effective enforcement mechanisms.” But that will require “regulatory, budgetary, supervisory judiciary and enforcement instruments and structures” applying for the duration. EU negotiator Michel Barnier has said a transition shouldn’t be discussed until more insight is available on what the future relationship looks like.
Finance
U.K. Opening Stance: The British want the eventual trade deal to include financial services, although some officials have suggested the complexity of doing that means the sector may need to be put to one side. Chancellor of the Exchequer Philip Hammond has suggested London could maintain oversight of euro clearing.
EU Opening Stance: The financial sector was ring-fenced in the latest draft of guidelines and told it would have to respect EU regulations and laws in return for access. “Any future framework should safeguard financial stability in the union.” EU officials said it’s unlikely banks with U.K. operations will be allowed to maintain so-called passporting, which grants easy access to the bloc. Germany and France have said authority over euro clearing should move to their countries.
European Agencies
U.K. Opening Stance: The Brexit Department said no decisions about the location of the European Banking Authority or European Medicines Agency have been made and it “will be subject to the exit negotiations.” The government “will discuss with the EU and member states how best to continue co-operation in the fields of banking and medicines regulation in the best interests of both the UK and the EU,” it said.
EU Opening Stance: The U.K. will have “no say” in the locations of the agencies and the topic is not for the Brexit talks, Margaritis Schinas, spokesman for the European Commission, said on April 19. The 27 EU members should settle the matter of the location “rapidly” and “arrangements should be found to facilitate their transfer.”
Security
U.K. Opening Stance: “In security terms a failure to reach agreement would mean our cooperation in the fight against crime and terrorism would be weakened,” said May. Home Secretary Amber Rudd said the U.K. is the largest contributor to Europol, “so if we left Europol then we would take our information.”
EU Opening Stance: The EU “stands ready to consider establishing partnerships” on security and fighting crime or terrorism. The withdrawal agreement would need to address “potential issues arising from the withdrawal in other areas of cooperation, including security.”
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