Charting the latest developments on the ‘road to Brexit’
- EU draft Withdrawal Agreement: protocol re ‘fall-back’ solution for avoiding a hard border between Ireland and Northern Ireland.
- Devolution agreements and Policy paper on EU citizens arriving in the UK.
The European Commission published draft terms for the UK’s withdrawal from the EU at the end of February.
The EU draft Withdrawal Agreement consolidates and converts into legal terms the December joint report on withdrawal priorities agreed in the first phase of the Brexit negotiations. The draft also includes proposed text addressing the outstanding separation issues not fully resolved in the joint report, as well as text on the proposed transitional arrangements. The draft text was circulated for discussion with the Council (Article 50) and the European Parliament Brexit Steering Group, before being transmitted to the UK for negotiation.
The EU draft comprises six key sections:
- introductory provisions—including objective, scope, definitions, principles, including the definition of Union law;
- citizens’ rights—scope and duration, residence, workers, qualifications and social security;
- separation issues—eg goods on the market, customs procedures, VAT and duties, IP rights, police and judicial co-operation, ongoing
