Debate: Future Relations between the EU and the UK
Date: FRIDAY, 18 DECEMBER 2020
Speaker: Maroš Šefčovič
Language: EN

As I previously mentioned to this House, Deal or No Deal, it was of utmost importance to ensure that the Withdrawal Agreement will be operational in time, as of 1 January 2021. This was a matter of trust and mutual respect of international law obligations. Yesterday, we held the fifth regular meeting of the EU—UK Joint Committee on the Withdrawal Agreement. This meeting marked an important milestone. It followed the bilateral agreement in principle that I had reached with the UK Co—Chair, Chancellor Michael Gove, last week and reported immediately back to the UK Coordination Group of the European Parliament. In the meantime, the Member States have managed to swiftly approve the relevant decisions, and today I am therefore pleased to confirm that we have officially endorsed the necessary formal decisions and practical solutions for the timely implementation of the Withdrawal Agreement and that of its Protocol on Ireland and Northern Ireland by the end of the transition period. In relation to the Protocol implementation, this means that we have delivered on our overarching objective: to protect the Good Friday Belfast Agreement, avoid a hard border on the island of Ireland, and thereby contribute to maintain peace, stability and prosperity on that island. This was only possible thanks to the dedication and solution—driven approach on both sides. This is also a testament to our shared commitment to the Good Friday Belfast Agreement. These solutions provide businesses and people in Northern Ireland with the necessary clarity and stability, while upholding the integrity of our single market.  As far as the EU is concerned, we have achieved our two main priorities. First, to obtain robust working arrangements for an EU presence in Northern Ireland so that our representatives can effectively carry out their tasks on the ground. In particular, I welcome that the UK has finally agreed to provide adequate equipment and facilities, as well as continuous real—time access to the relevant IT systems and databases both on the ground and remotely. Our EU representatives will thus be able to carry out their monitoring tasks on site at all places where goods and animals enter or exit Northern Ireland through ports or airports. This is key to ensure that the Protocol is implemented correctly by the UK authorities in Northern Ireland, thereby protecting the integrity of the EU single market. Second priority: to make sure that the UK Government not only continues to actively engage in the timely implementation of the Withdrawal Agreement, in the Joint Committee framework, but also commits to withdrawing all contentious parts of its Internal Market Bill and refraining from introducing any similar parts in its taxation bill. This it finally did last week, as part of our bilateral agreement in principle.  Given these reassurances, we were also able to find workable solutions for a number of areas. In detail, the Joint Committee adopted five decisions – four decisions on the Protocol on Ireland and Northern Ireland: the evaluation decisions on the practical arrangements for the Union presence in Northern Ireland; a decision on goods not at risk of entering the EU single market; a decision on the exemption of agricultural and fish subsidies from state aid rules; and a decision to correct some technical errors and omissions in Annex II of the Protocol. And one decision on the extension of social security coordination to the European Economic Area and Switzerland, as of 1 January 2021.  The Joint Committee also took note of the list of 25 persons, including five chairpersons, to serve as arbitrators for the Dispute Settlement Mechanism under the Withdrawal Agreement. This decision will be adopted shortly.  In addition to these decisions, we have adopted a set of unilateral declarations to set out pragmatic and time—limited solutions where the UK was not fully ready for the end of the transition period, whilst ensuring credible pathways to full compliance in the forthcoming months. These solutions concern a number of areas: temporary border control posts specifically for checks on animals, plants and derived products; export declarations; the supply of medicines; the supply of chilled meat and other food products to the supermarkets; and clarification on the application of state aid rules under the terms of the Protocol.  I underline again that these temporary solutions are subject to strict conditions to ensure that all relevant stakeholders will be in a position to fully comply with the Protocol in the course of 2021. Last but not least, we also agreed to pursue our joint efforts in assuring that during the grace period until 30 June 2021 and beyond, the rights of our citizens and UK nationals are effectively protected. The Joint Committee thus endorsed and agreed to publish the Second Joint Report on the implementation of residents’ rights prepared by the respective specialised committee. This report provides an update on national residency schemes in the UK and in the European Union. It also outlines outreach and assistance measures to support EU citizens and UK nationals, including vulnerable groups, and to inform important stakeholders such as employers. Much remains to be done, but yesterday marked an important first and decisive step in living up to the commitments of the Withdrawal Agreement. Before passing the floor to our chief negotiator, Michel Barnier, I want to underline that we will need to continue paying full attention to the implementation of the Withdrawal Agreement in 2021. We will focus on how our mutually—agreed solutions will actually work on the ground. To this end, we also agreed yesterday that the Joint Committee will meet at least quarterly during the upcoming year.  I want to thank you, honourable Members of the European Parliament, for your support in this endeavour. I will of course continue to keep this House regularly abreast of, and closely associated with, all upcoming developments on the Withdrawal Agreement implementation front.