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LONDON – The United Kingdom and the European Union have agreed on a political statement outlining their relationship after Brexit
Donald Tusk, President of the European Council, said Thursday morning that a text had been "approved at the level of the negotiators and adopted in principle at the political level", paving the way for the signing of a comprehensive agreement on the Brexit.
Downing Street said Theresa May would inform ministers of the contents of the political statement this morning, before returning to Brussels to sign the agreement this weekend.
The 26-page text consulted by Business Insider indicates the common goal of the UK and the EU to negotiate an "ambitious, broad and balanced economic partnership" once the UK leaves the EU. 39; EU.
Downing Street said that "new progress" had been made in the negotiations but insisted that the agreement would not be reached until its approval by the European Council at a meeting on Sunday.
"As the Prime Minister said last night, she had a good meeting with Jean-Claude Juncker, where further progress was made in the negotiations," said a May spokeswoman.
"This allowed them to give new instructions to the negotiations that immediately started working to resolve the remaining issues."
British officials have hinted that there may be other attempts to separate the agreement over the next few days.
"What became clear last night was the need to lock this up to preserve the gains we had made," a leading government source told BI.
In particular, the question of Gibraltar, which is not mentioned in the political declaration disclosed, is still not fully accepted by Spain.
"It is clear that there are still problems to be solved," said the source.
What does the political declaration contain?
The political declaration is not legally binding but explains what kind of agreement the UK and the EU aspire to negotiate after Brexit.
The paper says the future trade agreement should be based on "deep" customs and regulatory cooperation, but can not undermine the "indivisibility" of the single market and the four EU freedoms.
On the thorny issue of Northern Ireland support, the text states that both parties share a "determination" to find "alternative arrangements" to ensure that support to avoid a hard border is not used.
As part of the support proposal, the UK will effectively remain in the EU Customs Union, while Northern Ireland will stick to parts of the Single Market. until another way to preserve the frictionless Irish border is implemented.
Pro-Brexit MPs and DUP MPs who support the May government are opposed to this because it would keep the UK in a customs union for years after Brexit and create border controls between the US and the UK. Northern Ireland and the rest of the United Kingdom.
However, Downing Street claims to have won a victory by getting a passage in the statement stating that creating "alternative arrangements", including technological solutions, could help end the backstop – a key demand from some conservatives Brexite.
Theresa May to make a statement to MPs on the latest advance in the Brexit negotiations at 14:30 (GMT).
The Prime Minister will travel to Brussels this weekend for a European summit where member states are about to sign the Brexit withdrawal agreement before it is submitted to the parliamentary vote in Westminster in Brussels .
Anti-Brexit activists said the text was a "wave victory" and lacked details about Britain's future.
"The political statement seems to represent very little progress on what is already a bad deal.This is simply a series of tiny fig leaves as part of a desperate attempt to get a better deal. an eleventh hour to stem a massive rebellion against the back of the conservative party, "Labor MP and Best For Stephen Doughty, a British supporter.
The pound rose more than 1.1% against the dollar after the announcement of the latest advance in the negotiations.
