Prime Minister May and President Juncker have met today to review
the next steps in the UK’s withdrawal from the EU.
The talks were held in a spirit of working together to achieve
the UK’s orderly withdrawal from the EU, especially in the
context of a shared determination to achieve a strong partnership
for the future given the global challenges the EU and the UK face
together in upholding open and fair trade, cooperation in the
fight against climate change and terrorism and defending the
rules-based international system.
The Prime Minister described the context in the UK Parliament,
and the motivation behind last week’s vote in the House of
Commons seeking a legally binding change to the terms of the
backstop. She raised various options for dealing with these
concerns in the context of the Withdrawal Agreement in line with
her commitments to the Parliament.
President Juncker underlined that the EU27 will not reopen the
Withdrawal Agreement, which represents a carefully balanced
compromise between the European Union and the UK, in which both
sides have made significant concessions to arrive at a deal.
President Juncker however expressed his openness to add wording
to the Political Declaration agreed by the EU27 and the UK in
order to be more ambitious in terms of content and speed when it
comes to the future relationship between the European Union and
the UK. President Juncker drew attention to the fact that any
solution would have to be agreed by the European Parliament and
the EU27.
The discussion was robust but constructive. Despite the
challenges, the two leaders agreed that their teams should hold
talks as to whether a way through can be found that would gain
the broadest possible support in the UK Parliament and respect
the guidelines agreed by the European Council. The Prime Minister
and the President will meet again before the end of February to
take stock of these discussions.
