Recommendation for a Council Decision supplementing the Decision of 22 May 2017 authorising the opening of negotiations with the United Kingdom for an agreement setting out the arrangements for its withdrawal from the European Union

Background:

On 22 May 2017, the Council authorised the opening of negotiations with the United Kingdom for an agreement setting out the arrangements for its withdrawal from the European Union and adopted directives for the negotiation of an agreement. The opening of the negotiations took place on 19 June 2017. In line with the European Council guidelines and the Council negotiating directives, the first phase of the negotiations focused on the rights of citizens, the financial settlement, the issues relating to the island of Ireland, other separation issues, and the governance of the Withdrawal Agreement.

Noting the progress made so far, on 20 October 2017 the European Council called for work to continue with a view to consolidating the convergence achieved and pursuing the negotiations in order to be able to move to the second phase of the negotiations as soon as possible. The European Council thus invited the Council and the Commission as Union negotiator to start internal preparatory discussions including on possible transitional arrangements.

On 15 December 2017 the European Council welcomed the progress achieved during the first phase of the negotiations and decided that it was sufficient to move to the second phase related to transition and the framework for the future relationship. The European Council called on the Commission as Union negotiator and the United Kingdom to complete the work on all withdrawal issues, including those not yet addressed in the first phase, to consolidate the results obtained, and to start drafting the relevant parts of the Withdrawal Agreement. It also underlined that negotiations in the second phase could only progress as long as all commitments undertaken during the first phase were respected in full and translated faithfully into legal terms as quickly as possible.

Following the draft guidelines adopted by the European Council (Art 50) on 15 December 2017, the European Commission sent on 20 December 2017 a Recommendation to the Council (Art 50) to begin discussions on the next phase of the orderly withdrawal of the United Kingdom from the European Union.

• Primary Source

ESO: Council (Art 50) authorises the start of Brexit talks and adopts negotiating directives [Council of the European Union: Press Release, 22.5.17] http://www.europeansources.info/record/council-art-50-authorises-the-start-of-brexit-talks-and-adopts-negotiating-directives/

European Commission: Press Release, 20.12.17: Brexit: European Commission recommends draft negotiating directives for next phase of the Article 50 negotiations http://europa.eu/rapid/press-release_IP-17-5342_en.htm

European Council: European Council (Art.50), Brussels, 15 December 2017 http://www.europeansources.info/record/european-council-art-50-brussels-15-december-2017/

ESO: In Focus: Brexit - The United Kingdom and the European Union http://www.europeansources.info/record/brexit-the-united-kingdom-and-the-european-union/

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