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The document translates the EU’s negotiating position into a concrete legal text that will form the basis of the final exit agreement. As details are added on the terms of the transition period -- a two-year grace period that businesses are desperate to pin down -- some of the conditions have been tightened and the U.K. has vowed to push back on at least some of them.
While the extra liabilities are likely to be small, revisiting the bill could add further strain to talks in Brussels this week. It will enrage Brexit hardliners in the U.K. who are critical of the concessions Prime Minister Theresa May has made so far and want her to walk away from talks.
The text indicates that the U.K. will have to cover its share of foreign and defense spending during the transition period that is set to run from Brexit day in March 2019 to the end of 2020. During that period it will have no say in EU decisions, a point that’s controversial in the U.K.
“In addition to the elements contained in the Joint report of 8 December 2017, the Financial Provisions of the Withdrawal Agreement should also cover the financing, during the transition period, of the relevant Common Foreign and Security Policy and Common Security and Defense Policy agencies or operations on the basis of the same contribution key as before the withdrawal date,” the EU’s executive arm said in the document, which was provided to member states.
The payments refer to EU security agencies and operations outside the regular EU budget.
Suspension Threat
In the document, the Commission also reiterates that the U.K. will have to abide by EU laws -- including any changes made to those laws during the transition -- without having a say in the decision-making process. Failure to comply could result in a unilateral suspension of some of the benefits of the single market.
The whole point of the transition arrangement for businesses is to maintain single market access unchanged. [...]