Prime Minister will update the Commons today
(Monday) on the European Council meeting in Brussels that took
place last week.
Addressing the progress made on Brexit, the PM is expected to say
that “the shape of the deal across the vast majority of the
Withdrawal Agreement is now clear.”
She will continue —
“Since Salzburg we have agreed the broad scope of provisions that
set out the governance and dispute resolution arrangements for
our Withdrawal Agreement.
“We have developed a Protocol relating to the UK Sovereign Base
Areas in Cyprus.
“Following discussions with Spain – and in close co-operation
with the Government of Gibraltar - we have also developed a
Protocol and a set of underlying memoranda relating to Gibraltar,
heralding a new era in our relations.
“And we have broad agreement on the structure and scope of the
future relationship, with important progress made on issues like
security, transport and services.
“And all of this from the last three weeks alone, is in addition
to the agreements we had already reached.
“This includes agreements on citizens’ rights, on the financial
settlement, on the Implementation Period. And in Northern
Ireland, agreements on the preservation of the particular rights
for UK and Irish citizens - and the special arrangements between
us such as the Common Travel Area – all of which have existed
since before either the UK or Ireland ever became members of the
European Economic Community.”
Summing up progress so far, the Prime Minister will say — “taking
all of this together, 95 per cent of the Withdrawal Agreement and
its protocols are now settled.”
She will reiterate her position on Northern Ireland as the
government approaches the final stages of the
negotiations.
“The commitment to avoiding a hard border is one that this House
emphatically endorsed and enshrined in law in the Withdrawal Act
earlier this year.
“As I set out last week, the original backstop proposal from the
EU was one we could not accept, as it would mean creating a
customs border down the Irish Sea and breaking up the integrity
of the UK.
“I do not believe that any UK Prime Minister could ever accept
this.
“And I certainly will not.”
