EU and Britain approve draft agreement on future relations

BRUSSELS / LONDON (Reuters) – Britain and the European Union have agreed on a draft text establishing a close relationship after Brexit, although the quarrel with Spain over the control of Gibraltar remains to be settled before the EU leaders meet on Sunday to give the green light to the Pact.

Thursday's news boosted sterling by nearly 1%, relieving investors that 18 months of tense and tortuous negotiations were paying off, keeping Britain close to its biggest market and ensuring nothing would change over from a transition period extending at least until the end. of 2020.

"The British want the Brexit to be settled. They want a good deal that puts us on the path to a better future, "British Prime Minister Theresa May told the Parliament.

"The agreement that will allow us to do so is now within our reach. In these crucial 72 hours ahead, I will do everything in my power to deliver it to the British people. "

Her spokeswoman said she thought she could win a critical vote in parliament on the deal, expected next month, but many of those she needs to persuade do not seem convinced.

Some conservative colleagues in search of a sharper break with the EU have accused of "betraying the Brexit", while the Labor opposition leader, Jeremy Corbyn, has qualified the result of the negotiations of "worse than all the others" to keep Britain tied to the vast EU market, but without being able to express its rules.

After a draft treaty set the terms for the departure of Britain in March, the month of May had met Wednesday with the head of the European Commission, Jean-Claude Juncker, in the hope of finalizing an ambitious statement on future relationships that could help secure its support for the entire Brexit package. .

But the agreement faces considerable difficulties once it reaches a deeply divided British parliament, with uncompromising eurosceptic and uncompromising factions, fiercely partisan supporters of the EU and various shades of gray.

EU officials said there was a strong consensus that the latest issues should not delay the final deal for Sunday, while the other 27 governments are going through the news paperwork. The main question mark is whether Spain, which regards Brexit as an opportunity to tip the EU's balance behind its 300-year campaign to claim Gibraltar from Britain, can be persuaded of stay patient

May has to meet Juncker again on the eve of the summit at 6 pm (17H00 GMT) Saturday – agree in principle that the absolutely final text is ready to be signed by European leaders.

Spain, France and other EU Member States lobbying for various national interests in this political declaration – a 26-page wish list on future trade links and security, separate from the 585-page withdrawal agreement – Brussels feared that haggling could get out of hand and derail Sunday summit formally choreographed closely from the 27 leaders with May.

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EU sources told Reuters that the other demands of governments would now be recorded in one or two separate pages of a short text that should be approved at the summit. French calls for access to British fishing grounds and the insistence that the British post-Brexit comply with environmental, fiscal, social and industrial EU rules are largely worded, leaving a void for the fear of Spain to give Madrid a veto over the application of any future agreement in Gibraltar.

EU diplomats said they hoped that Spain could accept a statement, similar to that made before the withdrawal talks, that nothing in a future EU-UK treaty would would apply to Gibraltar without the consent of Madrid after bilateral negotiations with London.

The main text of the political declaration states that the EU and Britain "agree to develop an ambitious, broad and balanced economic partnership.

"This partnership will be comprehensive, encompassing a free trade area and broader sectoral cooperation … will be supported by provisions to ensure a level playing field."

For the month of May, it urges the EU to seek ways to avoid triggering a "protection" clause to ensure that the Irish border is not subject to any customs controls. This includes, he says, the technical and administrative means favored by Brexiteer's allies of May, which could limit the need for Britain to maintain its wider economic and trade rules in line with the continent.

According to the text, the post-Brexit relationship would respect "the integrity of the single market of the Union and the Customs Union as well as the internal market of the United Kingdom, and would recognize the development of the market". an independent commercial policy by the United Kingdom beyond this economic partnership ".

The first point concerns the EU's concern that Britain is using the Irish issue to gain privileged access to the EU market while removing its regulation. This last point responds to the complaints of Mayen's main parliamentary allies in Northern Ireland that the EU's plan to avoid a hard border with Ireland, a member of the EU, could isolate the province from the British mainland.

However, a legislator from the Democratic Unionist Party of Northern Ireland who supports May's minority government said Thursday that she would have to give up her agreement if she were to retain the support of the DUP.

Both parties need an agreement to maintain trade between the world's largest trading bloc and the fifth largest economy. But May has struggled to unravel nearly 46 years of membership without harming trade or upset lawmakers who ultimately will decide the fate of all the contracts she will get.

Despite the hopes of London-based financial firms, Britain has not improved its planned trade relations for financial services, one of the United Kingdom's leading export sectors.

May informed his cabinet of the state negotiations by teleconference, but his spokesman warned that no final deal could be reached before Sunday's EU summit. However, in practice, EU leaders who will meet an hour before seeing May want all negotiations to be completed in advance.

The transition period, which should end 21 months later, in December 2020, can be extended by two years. May said that this should end before the UK elections scheduled for mid-2022.