EU approach

Key players

The EU approach involved a supporting team which included:

• François Arbault, focused on the movement of goods
• Philippe Bertrand,  specialist on the Brexit bill
• Georg Emil Riekeles, relations between Commission and other EU institutions
• Richard Szostak, relations with non-EU countries, including Turkey and Switzerland
• Nicolas de la Grandvillem, Commission’s director of protocol
• Stéphanie Riso, post-Brexit EU budget

European Council guidelines

The European Council (the leaders of the EU member states) adopted Art. 50 guidelines for Brexit negotiations on 29 April 2017. 

The guidelines set out the basic principles underlying the EU’s negotiating position such as acting with one voice, mitigating uncertainty for citizens and businesses, adhering to the principle of sincere cooperation, and ensuring the integrity of the internal market.

The negotiations would have two phases:

• Phase 1 covered separating the UK from the EU and from all the rights and obligations that the UK derived from commitments undertaken as a member state.
  • The phase aimed to provide clarity and legal certainty to citizens, businesses, stakeholders and international partners on the immediate effects of the UK’s withdrawal.
  • It had three priorities:
    • Citizens’ rights
    • UK’s financial settlement
    • Border between Norther Ireland and the Irish Republic
• Phase 2 focused on transition arrangements and the future EU-UK relationship.
  • The guidelines stated that it would not be possible to conclude an agreement setting out any future relationship between the UK and the EU until the UK had formally left the EU and become a third country.
  • The EU27 indicated that they were willing to engage in “preliminary and preparatory discussions” with a view to establishing an overall understanding on the framework for future UK-EU relations.
  • In the transition, the EU and the UK would need to work through the detailed negotiations and operational implications to implement Phase 1 matters, negotiate Phase 2 and prepare for the end of Phase 2.

Sources:
European Council (Art. 50) guidelines for Brexit negotiations
Images from EU Multi-media Centre

 

Role of European Commission

The role of the Commission was to negotiate with the UK in line with the Council’s guidelines. During the process, the Commission made recommendations to the Council in relation to the negotiations.

The Council adopted the Commission’s initial recommendations, authorised the start of Brexit negotiations and published Brexit negotiating directives (22 May 2017), which, together with the European Council guidelines, described the priorities for Phase 1.

The Commission kept the member states informed throughout the process. For example, ahead of the first meeting between the EU and UK negotiators, the Commission shared draft negotiating documents with all 27 EU member states covering:

• Citizens’ rights;
• Euratom;
• Issues related to goods placed on the market before the UK’s withdrawal;
• On-going judicial and administrative procedures;
• The governance of the Article 50 agreement; and
• The method to be used to determine financial settlement.

During the negotiation, the Commission’s Brexit website provided timely updates. You can now find these and other negotiation documents in the Commission’s Brexit archive

Sources:

European Commission, Negotiating documents on Article 50 negotiations with the United Kingdom,
Documents published as part of the European Commission’s approach to transparency on Article 50 negotiations with the United Kingdom, released before 1 February 2020