28 September 2017

Press statement by Michel Barnier and David Davis following the fourth round of Article 50 negotiations with the United Kingdom

On citizens' rights, our priority, the UK has agreed to give direct effect to the Withdrawal Agreement.

This is very important.

It will give the assurance to our citizens that they will be able to invoke their rights, as defined by the Withdrawal Agreement, before UK courts.

We agreed to guarantee - for the citizens concerned - that the UK will apply EU law concepts in a manner that is consistent with EU law after Brexit.

But we failed to agree that the European Court of Justice must play an indispensable role in ensuring this consistency. This is a stumbling block for the EU.

There are others:

1. A big gap remains between our positions on family reunification. We want existing rights to continue for the citizens concerned.
2. The export of social security benefits also remains to be discussed.
3. Citizens need simplified administrative procedures. The UK stated its intention to put in place a streamlined system. We are looking forward, David, to hearing the details about this new system.

On the financial settlement, an expert group held detailed talks on some technical aspects. Those talks were useful.

Prime Minister May said two things in Florence,

• First: that no Member State should pay more; and no Member State should receive less because of Brexit.
• Second, that the UK will honour commitments taken during its membership.

This week, the UK negotiating team made clear that applying the first principle would be limited to 2019-2020.

The UK explained also that it is not in a position yet to identify its commitments taken during membership.

For the EU, the only way to reach sufficient progress is that all commitments undertaken at 28 are honoured at 28.

On Ireland: once again, we had a constructive discussion and we made progress in some areas.

As David just said, both the EU and the UK recognise that Ireland is in a unique situation. Any solution will need to be fully informed by the special circumstances on the island of Ireland.

As I mentioned several times, such solutions must respect both the integrity of the Union's legal order, and the Good Friday Agreement in all its parts.

We also confirmed our commitment towards maintaining the Common Travel Area, and started drafting common principles.

We've had a constructive week – yes – but we are not yet there in terms of achieving sufficient progress.

Further work is needed in the coming weeks and months.

In three weeks from now, the October European Council will be an opportunity for me to take stock of the negotiations with President Juncker and President Tusk and the 27 Heads of State or Government.

I also look forward to the European Parliament's resolution next week – which is important. [...]

Full statement

David Davis' closing remarks at the end of the fourth round of EU exit negotiations in Brussels

There is no doubting that this was a vital round of negotiations — taking place just days after an important intervention by the British Prime Minister.

Theresa May’s speech in Florence had at its heart a desire to drive progress this week. It was intended to change the dynamic and instil real momentum.

It set out a clear, pragmatic approach designed to help secure an agreement that works for all sides. [...]

Citizens’ rights

[...] So I am pleased to report that we have have agreed most aspects of social security coordination, building on the progress in the last round, which I told you about last time.

The United Kingdom thinks that in some cases we must go beyond the strict requirements of current EU law in order to protect citizens. For example we have offered the European Union guaranteed rights of return for settled EU citizens in the UK, in return for onward movement rights, right for onward movement, for our UK nationals who currently live within the EU27.

And I look forward to the response of the Commission to this offer, once they have consulted with the Member States.

But we must also acknowledge that a major question remains open between us – it relates to the enforcement of citizens’ rights after we leave the European Union.

The UK has been clear that, as a third country outside of the European Union, it would not be right for this role to be performed by the European Court of Justice.

But we have listened to the concerns that have been raised – and as a direct result of hearing those concerns the United Kingdom has committed to incorporating the final withdrawal agreement fully into UK law. Direct effect if you like.

We also recognise the need to ensure the consistent interpretation of EU law concepts.

We have not agreed the right mechanism for doing this yet but discussions this week have again been productive.

And we have provided further reassurance on how European Union citizens will be able to apply for a new status, once we leave.

And we know that those already holding permanent residency documents should not have to go through the full process.

So we presented early thinking on detailed processes and plans on how we might ensure this does not happen.

It’s all about providing certainty, clarity and stability for EU citizens living in the UK and UK citizens living in the EU27. And represents pragmatic compromises to our shared challenge of ending anxiety for those citizens.

The shape of a deal is becoming clearer. We need to continue to work to address this in the interest of citizens on both sides.

Financial settlement

In her recent speech, the Prime Minister reassured our European partners they’ll not need to pay more or receive less over the remainder of the current EU budget plan, as a result of our decision to leave.

The UK has explained this reassurance in detail to the Commission.

The Prime Minister also made clear that the UK will honour its commitments made during the period of our membership.

We are not yet at the stage of specifying exactly what these commitments are. That will need to come later.

Nevertheless, our negotiating teams have held very constructive discussions this week on detailed technical issues relating to that.

This work is necessary so that when the time comes we will be able to reach a political agreement. And discussions will continue.

Ireland

On the issues that arise from the UK’s withdrawal from the EU in relation to Northern Ireland and Ireland, we have had a constructive discussion and made progress in some areas.

Both sides recognise that the unique situation and the special circumstances on the island of Ireland must fully inform any solutions.

We welcome the EU’s recent guiding principles paper which reaffirms the high degree of alignment between us on this vital strand.

Specifically, this week, we have begun drafting joint principles on preserving the Common Travel Area and associated rights.

We have both agreed that the Good Friday Agreement citizenship rights must be upheld and we are working together on how this commitment is best codified.

The joint work which we agreed in the August negotiating round on preserving the North-South cooperation strand is moving along at pace.

We are addressing complex issues here but both are resolved to finding imaginative solutions.

We owe it to the people of Northern Ireland – and across the island of Ireland – to see these commitments through.

Separation issues

We remain firmly committed to making as much progress as possible on those issues that are related to our withdrawal from the EU institutions and must be resolved before our departure from the European Union.

I am encouraged by the progress we have made this week on issues relating to Euratom.

The EU welcomed our clear statement that we will maintain the same standards in our future nuclear safeguards regime which will be run by our existing nuclear regulator, the Office for Nuclear Regulation.

We are now close to reaching agreement on the vast majority of issues set out in our position papers on this issue.

Of course, we want to have a close and effective relationship with Euratom in the future and the best way to secure that is to press on with discussions on the details of this new partnership.

On a number of other issues – goods, union and Member State procedures, privileges and immunities and ongoing confidentiality obligations – we have had constructive discussion on technical issues and in some areas, reached agreement on the core issues. [...]

Full statement

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