EU and UK agree on Brexit text, but gaps remain before summit

BRUSSELS / LONDON (Reuters) – Great Britain and the European Union have agreed on a draft text establishing close relations after Brexit, officials said, although the feuds over fish and fish The future of Gibraltar remain to be settled before the leaders' meeting on Sunday.

Thursday's news boosted sterling by nearly 1%, relieving investors that 18 months of tense negotiations were paying off, keeping Britain close to its biggest market and ensuring nothing would change for at least two years. years.

British Prime Minister Theresa May told the press in London: "The British want this settled, they want an agreement that prepares us for a better future … This agreement is within our reach and I am determined to present it . . "

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 is whether Spain, which sees Brexit as an opportunity to shift the weight of the EU behind its 300-year campaign to demand Gibraltar to Britain, can be persuaded to remain patient.

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. faced with furious parliamentary opposition, even within his own party.

She must find Juncker on the eve of the summit at 18 hours. (17:00 GMT) Saturday, and a spokesman for Juncker said that at that time there would be little left to settle.

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.

Summit chairman Donald Tusk said: "This was agreed at the negotiator level and approved in principle at the political level."

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EU sources told Reuters that other requests from governments would 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.

The main text of the political statement, read by Reuters, 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 May's pro-Brexit allies, which could limit the need for Britain to maintain its broader economic and trade rules in line with the continent.

The European Commission said Juncker had encouraged May to meet with Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez, which they had done Wednesday night, and that Gibraltar, as well as some fisheries issues, remained in dispute. outstanding.

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 ".

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. The first deals with the EU's concern that Britain is using the Irish question to gain privileged access to the EU market while removing its regulation.

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 the MPs who will ultimately decide the fate of all agreements it can get.

Despite the hopes of London-based financial firms, Britain has not made any improvements to its planned commercial relations for financial services.

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

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-2021.