Theresa May Withdrawal Agreement Summary

May asked the EU for assurances regarding concerns about the backstop protocol and the presidencies of the European Council, Tusk and the President. The European Commission, Jean-Claude Juncker, responded with a joint letter in which it stressed that if the backstop were to be used, it would try to limit its application to the “shortest possible period”. Few critics of the deal, however, seemed to take solace in this assurance. Debate on the deal resumed on January 9, with Corbyn pleading not only for the deal to be rejected, but also calling for an early general election. Predictably, the deal was rejected in the significant vote on the evening of January 15 by 432 votes to 202, albeit by a considerably larger majority than expected. Almost immediately, Corbyn proposed a vote of confidence in the government that would take place the next day, which May survived by 325 votes to 306 as she maintained her support for the DUP and the rebellious Conservatives they had left behind in the vote on the deal. If the UK is due to leave the EU on 31 October with a deal, the withdrawal agreement must be ratified by both the UK and the EU. Ratification by the United Kingdom requires the approval of the VA and the House of Commons and the adoption of legislation transposing va into Uk law. Ratification by the EU requires the approval of the VA in a request for approval from the European Parliament and the final approval of the Council of the EU by an overqualified majority.

As part of the backstop, the UK will form a customs union with the EU (with the exception of trade in fishery and aquaculture products, which is expected to be the subject of another agreement on fishing opportunities by 1 July 2020). The UK will comply with specific EU customs rules, including with regard to third countries, and some harmonisation of legislation in the areas of taxation, environment, labour law, state aid, competition and state-owned enterprises/monopolies will continue, but without any obligation to keep pace with new EU legislation and CJEU case law. In order to create a level playing field, the UK is committed to not suffering setbacks in terms of environmental protection in the EU, social and labour standards, state and competition aid, and state-owned enterprises in terms of tax administration. Ultimately, the Irish border is expected to become a no-issue under the Comprehensive Free Trade Agreement (FTA), which both sides are expected to sign some time after Britain leaves the bloc on March 29 next year. The 599-page withdrawal agreement covers the following key areas[16] The Labour Party, for its part, has said it is unlikely that the agreement will support jobs and the economy or guarantee standards and guarantees, and is therefore preparing to vote against it. Other Conservatives – encouraged by Jo Johnson`s resignation last week – could also be encouraged to rebel. The Declaration on the Future Relationship between the European Union and the United Kingdom, also known as the Political Declaration, is a non-binding declaration negotiated and signed in conjunction with the binding and broader Withdrawal Agreement in the context of the Withdrawal of the United Kingdom from the European Union (EU), colloquially known as Brexit, and the planned end of the transition period. At the end of November, May could boast that the leaders of the other 27 EU member states had officially agreed to the terms of a withdrawal agreement that she said was “delivered for the British people” and put the UK “on the right track for a prosperous future”.

Under the deal, the UK would have to pay around $50 billion to meet its long-term financial obligations to the EU. The plan would end free movement between the UK and the EU, which was at the heart of the anti-immigration case for Brexit. Although the UK`s exit date from the EU was specified for 29 March 2019, the agreement provided that the UK would continue to comply with EU rules and regulations until at least December 2020, while smoothing out the details of its long-term relationship between the UK and the EU. If the Withdrawal Agreement is approved, an EU Bill (Withdrawal Agreement) will be introduced to transpose the Withdrawal Agreement into UK law. Following the library`s backgrounder, The User`s Guide to the Meaningful Vote, this document provides an updated overview of the national constitutional requirements for the ratification of the Withdrawal Agreement. Under the agreement, the entire UK would be appointed up to at least 1. July 2020 in a “single customs territory” – considered a temporary customs union – with the EU. This could be extended or terminated, but only by mutual agreement. The tariff regulations would be the same as today. With regard to the Irish border issue, there is a protocol on Northern Ireland (the “backstop”) which is annexed to the agreement and sets out a fallback position that will only enter into force if no other effective arrangement is demonstrated before the end of the transition period. In this case, the UK will eclipse the EU`s common external tariff and Northern Ireland will remain in some aspects of the single market until such a demonstration is achieved. None of the parties can unilaterally withdraw from this customs union.

The aim of this backstop agreement is to avoid a “hard” border in Ireland where customs controls are necessary. [19] The UK will be able to conclude trade agreements with third countries; However, the customs union would significantly limit the UK`s ability to have significantly different trade relations with them, particularly with regard to goods. The UK would have more opportunities to offer different conditions for trade in services and in areas such as government procurement. Following an unprecedented vote on 4 December 2018, MEPs decided that the UK government was flouting Parliament for refusing to give Parliament the full legal opinion it had been given on the impact of the proposed withdrawal conditions. [29] The main point of the discussion concerned the legal effect of the “backstop” agreement for Northern Ireland, the Republic of Ireland and the rest of the UNITED Kingdom with regard to the customs border between the EU and the United Kingdom and its impact on the Good Friday Agreement, which had led to an end to the unrest in Northern Ireland. and, in particular, whether the UK would be safe to leave the EU in a practical sense in accordance with the draft proposals. Many Remainers, meanwhile, say the deal is far worse than the current membership conditions and does not properly address future relations. Some want to offer the public the opportunity to overturn the result of the 2016 referendum. Labour`s main opposition say the deal does not meet its six Brexit criteria, which include a customs union with the EU. This part of the Withdrawal Agreement, in particular, led to its defeat in January, thanks to hostility from Conservative Eurosceptics and Northern Irish Unionists.

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