EU approach

EU proposed approach

In the absence of concrete counter-proposals from the UK, the negotiations followed the EU approach. The EU approach followed principles and objectives stated in:

• European Council (Art. 50) guidelines on the framework for the future EU-UK relationship, 23 March 2018;
• Revised Political Declaration agreed with the UK government on 17 October 2019, setting out the framework for the future UK-EU relationship.

The Commission recommended comprehensive draft negotiating directives on 3 February 2020 to the European Council. After the Council adopted the mandate on 25 February, formal negotiations with the UK began on 1 March, with the first meeting between the EU and UK teams on 2 March.

The EU had two guiding principles for the negotiations:

• No surprises
• Allow for swift adoption

The European Commission published several negotiating documents that outlined its opening assumptions and approach for the main topics under discussion. These included a series of seminars topic by topic.

EU ambitions

In approving the mandate, the EU summarised its ambitions for the partnership with the UK as:

“The EU wishes to establish an ambitious, wide-ranging and balanced economic partnership with the UK. The mandate stresses that the future partnership should be underpinned by robust commitments to ensure a level playing field for open and fair competition, given the EU and the UK’s geographic proximity and economic interdependence.
The EU intends to establish a free trade agreement with the UK which ensures that zero tariffs and quotas apply to trade in goods. This agreement should provide for cooperation on customs and regulatory aspects. It should also include effective management and supervision, dispute settlement and enforcement arrangements.
On fisheries, the mandate outlines that the future partnership should uphold the existing reciprocal access to waters as well as stable quota shares. The agreement on fisheries should be established by 1 July 2020, to give time for determining fishing opportunities after the end of the transition period.
The mandate also contains provisions for future cooperation in areas such as digital trade, intellectual property, public procurement, mobility, transport, and energy.
The EU will seek to establish a comprehensive security partnership with the UK. The partnership should comprise law enforcement and judicial cooperation in criminal matters, as well as foreign policy, security and defence.
The mandate foresees that the future partnership should be embedded in an overall governance framework covering all areas of cooperation.”

EU team and the UKTF

The Task Force for Relations with the United Kingdom (UKTF) was in charge of the preparation and conduct of the negotiations. This was in line with the Commission’s decision of 22 October 2019.

Michel Barnier was the Head of the UKT and his deputy was Clara Martinez Alberola.

The EU’s approach involved these other key players:

• Sabine Weyand, who was the chief official in the Commission’s international trade department and had been Michel Barnier’s deputy for the Article 50 negotiations.
• Phil Hogan, who was the EU Trade Commissioner and Sabine Weyand’s boss. He focussed on the tariff-free, quota-free trade deal.
• Valdis Dombrovskis, who was appointed to replace Phil Hogan on 8 September 2020 after he resigned over breach of Covid regulations in Ireland.
• Maroš Šefčovič, European Commission Vice-President, who was European Commission Vice-President, and co-chair of the Withdrawal Agreement Joint Committee.

The UKTF, established on 16 November 2019, coordinated the Commission’s work on all strategic, operational, legal and financial issues related to the relations with the UK within the European Council’s guidelines. This included:

• Negotiations on the future relationship with the UK
• Implementation of the Withdrawal Agreement
• Commission’s ‘no-deal’ preparedness work

The UKTF replaced the Task Force for the Preparation and Conduct of the Negotiations with the UK under Article 50 TEU, which was created on 1 October 2016 to lead withdrawal negotiations. It had a coordinating role with other institutions, namely the European Parliament and the Council, under the direct authority of the President of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen.

The new Task Force closely cooperated with the Secretariat-General of the Commission (led by Ilze Juhansone), all relevant Commission services and the European External Action Service (EEAS). The EEAS is the EU’s diplomatic service, which supports the EU’s foreign affairs chief, Josep Borrell Fontelles, the High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, to carry out the EU’s Common Foreign and Security Policy.

The General Affairs Council is a part of the Council of the EU and meets monthly. Its meetings bring together the Foreign Ministers of the Member States – sometimes Ministers responsible for European Affairs participate. As trade is an important component, the meetings of the EU’s Foreign Affairs Council (on behalf of the European Council) were also important.

Structure of negotiations

Each round of negotiations involved 11 negotiating groups where the detailed negotiations took place. The 11 groups covered:

1. Trade in goods
2. Trade in services; investments
3. Level playing field
4. Transport
5. Energy and civil nuclear cooperation
6. Fisheries
7. Mobility and social security cooperation (including visas for travel and work)
8. Law enforcement and judicial cooperation
9. Thematic cooperation (including cybersecurity and migration)
10. Participation in EU programmes;
11. Horizonal arrangements and governance.

Sources:
EU website, Task Force for Relations with the United Kingdom
EU website, European External Action Service (EEAS)
See Section 1 ‘What is the EU?’ for description of the EU institutions
Images from EU Multi-media Centre