Theresa May stated after a five-hour long meeting yesterday, that the cabinet has backed a draft withdrawal agreement between the UK and the EU. Nine ministers reportedly spoke out against the agreement, but the cabinet reached a collective position and a draft agreement of over 585 pages has now been published. A shorter statement has also been released, giving an idea of what the UK’s new relationship with the EU will look like. Since then a number of ministers have resigned including the former Brexit Secretary Dominic Raab, Esther McVey work and pensions secretary, Northern Ireland Office minister Shailesh Vara and Suella Braverman, Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Exiting the European Union. Read the draft agreement and joint statement here.
The draft agreement includes a commitment to protect the rights of EU nationals in the UK and Britons living in the EU to continue living, working and studying. It also sets out plans for a 21-month transition period after the EU Exit in March 2019, which includes plans for a “financial settlement” from the UK.
According to Part 2 Article 2, there will be a non-regression in the level of environmental protection provided by law at the end of the transition period. This means that the UK shall ensure that the level of environmental protection provided by the law regulations and practices will not be reduced below the level provided by the common standards applicable within the Union. Notably, both the “polluter pays” principle and the precautionary principle are to be law, which is good news for the heritage sector.
The Prime Minister has stated that the draft agreement is about the withdrawal from the EU and not about our future relationship. This is presumably why it does mention issues such as Horizon2020 which has supplied vital funding for heritage.
President of the European Council Donald Tusk has responded to May’s statement, calling Brexit a “lose-lose situation”. He insists that the negotiations “are only about damage control” and hopes that the Joint Political Declaration about the future relations between the EU and the UK will be finalised and formalised very soon. “The Commission intends to agree the declaration about the future with the UK by Tuesday. Over the following 48 hours, the member states will have time to evaluate it, which means that the EU27 Sherpas should conclude this work on Thursday. Then, if nothing extraordinary happens, we will hold a European Council meeting, in order to finalise and formalise the Brexit agreement. It will take place on Sunday 25th November at 9:30.”
The EU has developed its own guidance document (additional to that produced by the UK Government) on the implications of a “No Deal” Brexit on travel and tourism between the UK and the EU. This provides a good insight as to how EU countries are being advised to treat UK nationals post Brexit.
They have also released a communication on contingency planning, which provides advise to EU member states as to how the EU will develop and implement any contingency measures that may be required to cope with a “No Deal” scenario.