| Author (Corporate) | United Kingdom: Department for Exiting the European Union |
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| Series Title | Press Release |
| Series Details | 09.10.18 |
| Publication Date | 27/10/2018 |
| Content Type | News |
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United Kingdom Secretary of State for Exiting the European Union Dominic Raab gave a statement in the House of Commons on the 9 October 2018 regarding the UK government position on Brexit negotiations. Intensive technical EU-UK negotiations continued in the following days after the statement. An unscheduled face-to-face meeting in Brussels between EU chief negotiator Michel Barnier and Dominic Raab took place on the 14 October 2018. Commentators suggested that a draft technical agreement was reached between the two sides, but that the UK could not agree to the terms politically. On the 15 October 2018 UK Prime Minister Theresa May gave a statement in the House of Commons on the state of the negotiations. The Prime Minister claimed 'real progress' in Brexit negotiations but stated that the Government was still negotiating with the EU over their proposal for a 'backstop to the backstop'. She said that she continued to believe that a negotiated deal was the best outcome. The Leader of the Opposition, Jeremy Corbyn, responded to the statement, telling the House that 'this really is beginning to feel like groundhog day'. He claimed that 'over the last 18 months, red line after red line has been surrendered'. The next key dates were: + 17 October 2018: EU27 leaders met in the European Council (Art.50) to discuss Brexit The UK Prime Minister, Theresa May, addressed the EU27 leaders. She outlined the UK perspective on the state of play in the Brexit negotiations, but reportedly provided no new elements which could enable the discussions to be unlocked. The European Council (Article 50) meeting of 17 October 2018 made neither made progress towards finalising a withdrawal agreement nor decided on holding an extraordinary summit on Brexit in November 2018. There was consensus amongst EU Heads of State or Government that 'for now, not enough progress has been made’ but they would ‘continue talks in a positive spirit’. Background information United Kingdom Prime Minister Theresa May had given an update on the Brexit negotiations to the House of Commons on the 21 September 2018. This followed the Informal meeting of EU heads of state or government in Salzburg on the 19-20 September 2018, which Theresa May had attended. The ongoing negotiations between the European Union and the United Kingdom for the UK to leave the EU were progressing slowly during 2018 with key sticking points relating to: + Northern Ireland/Ireland In Salzburg Theresa May continued to campaign for a future EU-UK relationship based upon the proposals in the White Paper. The future relationship between the United Kingdom and the European Union of July 2018. However, the EU27 countries made it clear that the proposals in the White Paper were not acceptable. Brexit and the Conservative Party The difficulties the UK Government faced were compounded by the difficulty in achieving an agreed UK negotiating strategy between members of the Cabinet and other members of the governing Conservative Party. |
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| Source Link | https://www.gov.uk/government/news/secretary-of-state-dominic-raabs-statement-update-on-eu-exit-negotiations |
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| Countries / Regions | Europe, United Kingdom |
