Brexit negotiations


Between 2017 and 2019, representatives of the United Kingdom and the European Union negotiated the terms of Brexit, the UK's planned withdrawal from membership of the EU. These negotiations arose following the decision of the Parliament of the United Kingdom to invoke Article 50 of the Treaty on European Union, which in turn followed the UK's EU membership referendum on 23 June 2016 in which 52% of votes were in favour of leaving.
The negotiating period began on 29 March 2017, when the United Kingdom served its withdrawal notice under Article 50. The withdrawal was then planned to occur on 29 March 2019, two years after the date of notification as specified in Article 50.
Negotiations formally opened on 19 June 2017 when David Davis, the UK's Secretary of State for Exiting the European Union, met Michel Barnier, the EU's Chief Negotiator. They began to discuss a withdrawal agreement, which included terms of a transitional period and an outline of the objectives for a future UK–EU relationship.
In March and April 2019, Prime Minister of the United Kingdom Theresa May and the European Council agreed to move the date of the UK's departure to 31 October 2019.
May resigned as leader of the ruling Conservative Party on 7 June 2019, and on 23 July, Boris Johnson was elected as her successor. The Johnson ministry and EU agreed to resume regular meetings to discuss the withdrawal agreement on 28 August 2019, but the UK declared a precondition that the Irish backstop must be scrapped, which the EU said it would not accept.
In October 2019, following bilateral talks between Johnson and Leo Varadkar, the UK and EU agreed to a revised deal, which replaced the backstop. In the new Northern Ireland protocol, the entire UK would be removed from the EU Customs Union as a single customs territory. Northern Ireland will be included in any future UK trade deals, but it remains an entry point into the EU Customs Union, creating a de facto customs border between Northern Ireland and Great Britain. Following the 2019 UK general election, which returned a Conservative majority, the Withdrawal Agreement Bill and its programme motion passed its first reading in the House of Commons.
The agreement was ratified by the UK, on 23 January 2020, and by the EU on 29 January 2020, confirming that a withdrawal agreement was in place when, as planned, the UK left the EU on 31 January 2020.
The withdrawal was followed by trade negotiation between the UK and the EU, which resulted in the EU–UK Trade and Cooperation Agreement, signed on 30 December 2020.

Background

2015 United Kingdom general election

In its election manifesto for the United Kingdom general election in May 2015, the Conservative Party promised to call an EU referendum by the end of 2017.
The referendum, held on 23 June 2016, resulted in a 51.9% majority vote for leaving the European Union.

Preparatory work, and intentions

According to the European Parliament in March 2017, "For the moment, it appears that the two sides have different views on the sequencing and scope of the negotiations, and notably the cross-over between the withdrawal agreement and the structure of future relations, and this divergence itself may be one of the first major challenges to overcome."

UK negotiation

The Department for Exiting the European Union was originally responsible for overseeing the negotiations to leave the EU and establishing the future relationship between the UK and EU. This role was later taken over by Olly Robbins, and then Lord David Frost, who reported to the prime minister and Cabinet Office.

Original withdrawal agreement (November 2018) negotiation

  • Theresa May, Prime Minister of the United Kingdom
  • Oliver Robbins, Europe Advisor to the Prime Minister and chief negotiator
  • David Davis, Secretary of State for Exiting the European Union until 8 July 2018.
  • Dominic Raab, Secretary of State for Exiting the European Union from 9 July 2018 until 15 November 2018.
  • Steve Barclay, Secretary of State for Exiting the European Union from 16 November 2018.
  • Sir Tim Barrow, UK Permanent Representative to the EU

    Revised withdrawal agreement (October 2019) negotiation

  • Boris Johnson, Prime Minister of the United Kingdom
  • Lord David Frost, Europe Advisor to the Prime Minister and chief negotiator
  • Steve Barclay, Secretary of State for Exiting the European Union
  • Sir Tim Barrow, UK Permanent Representative to the EU

    Article 50 invocation

The United Kingdom's proposed principles were set out in the Article 50 notification:
  • Constructive discussions
  • Citizens first
  • Comprehensive agreement
  • Minimise disruption
  • Ireland/Northern Ireland position
  • Technical talks on detailed policy
  • Work together on European values
The Prime Minister's formal letter of notification was delivered in Brussels on 29 March 2017. It included withdrawal from the European Atomic Energy Community. The letter recognised that consequences for the UK of leaving the EU included loss of influence over rules that affect the European economy, and UK companies trading within the EU aligning with rules agreed by institutions of which the UK would no longer be part. It proposed agreeing to seven principles for the conduct of the withdrawal negotiation. These were for:
  1. engaging with one another constructively and respectfully, in a spirit of sincere cooperation.
  2. aiming to strike an early agreement about the rights of the many EU citizens living in the United Kingdom, and British citizens living elsewhere in the European Union.
  3. working towards securing a comprehensive agreement, taking in both economic and security cooperation, and agreeing on the terms of the UK's future partnership alongside those of its withdrawal from the EU.
  4. working together to minimise disruption and giving as much certainty as possible, letting people and businesses in the UK and the EU benefit from implementation periods to adjust in an orderly way to new arrangements.
  5. in particular, paying attention to the UK's unique relationship with the Republic of Ireland and the importance of the peace process in Northern Ireland.
  6. beginning technical talks on detailed policy areas as soon as possible, including a Free Trade Agreement covering sectors crucial to the UK's and EU's linked economies, such as financial services and network industries.
  7. continuing to work together to advance and protect the shared liberal, democratic values of Europe, to ensure that Europe remains able to lead in the world, projecting its values and defending itself from security threats.

    Role of the countries of the United Kingdom

The constitutional lawyer and retired German Supreme Court judge Udo Di Fabio has stated his opinion that separate negotiations with the EU institutions by Scotland or Northern Ireland would constitute a violation of the Lisbon Treaty, according to which the integrity of a member country is explicitly put under protection.

UK general election

The start of negotiations was delayed until after the United Kingdom general election, which took place on 8 June 2017. Antonio Tajani, speaking on 20 April, said "the early election should bring stability to the UK, which would have been good for negotiations." In the event, the election led to a hung parliament which reduced the Prime Minister's room for manoeuvre; in particular in respect of the Irish border question due to her dependency on a confidence and supply agreement with Northern Ireland's Democratic Unionist Party.

EU27 negotiation

Following the United Kingdom's notification under Article 50, draft guidelines for the negotiations were sent to EU delegations of the 27 other member states. The draft, prepared by the president of the European Council, states that the guidelines define the framework for negotiations under Article 50 and set out the overall positions and principles the Union will pursue throughout the negotiation. It states that in the negotiations the Union's overall objective will be to preserve its interests, those of its member states, its citizens and its businesses, and that, in the best interest of both sides, the Union will be constructive throughout and strive to find an agreement. The draft sets out two core principles:
  1. The European Council will continue to base itself on the principles set out in the statement of Heads of State or Government and of the presidents of the European Council and the European Commission on 29 June 2016. It reiterates its wish to have the United Kingdom as a close partner in the future. It further reiterates that any agreement with the United Kingdom will have to be based on a balance of rights and obligations and ensure a level playing field. Preserving the integrity of the European Single Market excludes participation based on a sector-by-sector approach. A non-member of the Union that does not live up to the same obligations as the members cannot have the same rights and enjoy the same benefits. In this context, the European Council welcomes the recognition by the British Government that the four freedoms of the Single Market are indivisible and there can be no "cherry-picking".
  2. Negotiations under Article 50 TEU will be conducted as a single package. Following the principle that nothing is agreed until everything is agreed, individual items cannot be settled separately. The Union will approach the negotiations with unified positions and will engage with the United Kingdom exclusively through the channels set out in these guidelines and the negotiating directives. So as not to undercut the position of the Union, there will be no separate negotiations between individual member states and the United Kingdom on matters of the withdrawal of the United Kingdom from the Union.
According to the European Parliament, the withdrawal agreement and any possible transitional arrangement should enter into force "well before the elections to the European Parliament of May 2019", and the negotiations should focus on:
  • The legal status of European Union citizens living or having lived in the United Kingdom and of United Kingdom citizens living or having lived in other member states, as well as other provisions concerning their rights;
  • The settlement of financial obligations between the United Kingdom and the European Union;
  • The European Union's external border;
  • The clarification of the status of the United Kingdom's international commitments taken as a Member of the European Union, given that the European Union of 27 member states will be the legal successor of the European Union of 28 member states;
  • Legal certainty for legal entities, including companies;
  • The designation of the Court of Justice of the European Union as the competent authority for the interpretation and enforcement of the withdrawal agreement.
On 18 April 2017, a spokesman for Donald Tusk said "We expect to have the Brexit guidelines adopted by the European Council on 29 April and, following that, the Brexit negotiating directives ready on 22 May." On 29 April, the EU27 unanimously endorsed the draft guidelines with no debate.
In a speech to a plenary session of the European Committee of the Regions in Brussels on 22 March 2017, Barnier, as EU Chief Negotiator for the Preparation and Conduct of the Negotiations, said the EU wanted to succeed by reaching a deal with the British, not against them.
On 22 May the European Council, following the approval of the negotiating directives that the EU27 had adopted by strong qualified majority voting, authorised the commission to open Article 50 discussions with the UK, with Michel Barnier appointed as the negotiator. It further confirmed that all agendas, EU position papers, Non-papers and EU text proposals would be released to the public and published online.