Debate: Implementation report on the Agreement on the withdrawal of the UK from the EU - The Windsor Framework
Date: TUESDAY, 14 MARCH 2023
Speaker: Maroš Šefčovič
Language: EN

I think that today we are all referring to a very important achievement, represented in the Windsor Framework. But before I get to that, I would just like to respond to one of the first interventions we heard today, from Mr Jahr and Ms Hübner, because it concerns our citizens and I know their rights are important to you. I would like to assure you that they are very, very important for us as well. To make it clear: if it comes to the issue of pre-settled to settled status, it was rightly pointed out that the UK High Court has ruled that this formality was unlawful. And the Commission, as you know, has joined these proceedings next to the UK Independent Monitoring Authority. The good news is that the UK Home Office will not appeal this decision and will implement the ruling, as Ms Hübner just said. And I think this is the good news, but we know that there are still some issues which need our vigilant approach. They will have it, and I can assure you that, for us, the rights of citizens will always remain a priority. Several honourable Members have been saying that this new way forward in the frame of the new Windsor Framework will allow us to open a new chapter in our EU-UK relationship and that this would be a relationship which will be based on mutual trust. This was expressed by Ms Reintke and Ms Loiseau. I believe that this relationship will be driven by cooperation, which is rightfully so important for two such important neighbours, partners, allies and trade partners as well. And I think that through this common approach and through that new way of resolving the issues, we are creating new opportunities and, I hope, a prosperous future also for Northern Ireland, because we’ve been working very hard on how we can even improve and make stronger the involvement of the Northern Ireland stakeholders in the dealings of the Protocol. I think that from the last year of getting familiar with the day—to—day issues, understanding better the demands, the problems, the issues which need to be solved, this has been very helpful for the last, very important chapters of these negotiations. I believe that through close cooperation with the UK Government, we found the right responses to these issues. And I believe that this new approach, the joint solution and this close cooperation, will also guide us when we discuss new areas for future cooperation. Mr Kelly, Mr Bourgeois, Mr Lange, Ms Covassi just highlighted some of the areas where close allies and good neighbours should go, and we would of course explore all of them. I would like to thank Ms Cavazzini for highlighting the importance of the Windsor Framework, but also for underscoring the importance of the single market and the fact that what we did was to look for new modern technology for data—sharing, for the possibility of remote checks, to really look for out—of—the—box solutions which would guarantee, on the one hand, the integrity of the single market and, on the other, would do it in an efficient way. I believe that we have achieved that. To conclude, once again, I would like to thank all the colleagues in the House for their close cooperation, for their support. I would like to thank Mr Pereira for his report. Of course, our relationship with the United Kingdom is massive, so I am sure there will be a lot of issues to talk about. There will be a lot of discussions about the future cooperation, and I am very much looking forward to it. But thank you very much for all your supportive remarks.