The European Union will launch Monday the procedure for the signature and the implementation of the draft trade agreement concluded Thursday with London and presented Friday to the member States by the European negotiator Michel Barnier in a version only in English.
The European Union will launch Monday the procedure for the signature and the implementation of the draft trade agreement concluded Thursday with London and presented Friday to the member States by the European negotiator Michel Barnier in a version only in English.
"There was no great joy, because a divorce is not very good news"
The reception by the ambassadors of the EU countries was "quite sober", told AFP a European diplomat.
"There was no great joy, because a divorce is not very good news," he said.
A provisional English version was submitted to them.
"The text which is 1,200 pages, will be examined by Monday to determine if there are no hidden subjects that could pose a problem," he said.
A new meeting of ambassadors is scheduled for Monday to launch the signing of the draft agreement by member states and have it approved by the European Parliament.
Member states must endorse and sign the text on Tuesday evening or Wednesday.
It will then be published in the Official Journal of the EU on Thursday to allow its entry into force on 1 January 2021.
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Member states must also decide on the provisional application of the agreement, as it will not have been ratified for the departure of the United Kingdom.
It should be two months, said the diplomat.
They will also discuss autonomous measures decided unilaterally to sanction the non-compliance with the agreement by the United Kingdom.
"We must decide how these measures will be taken," said the diplomat.
During their meeting, the ambassadors also discussed how to respond to the communication deemed "very aggressive" and "very populist" from the British government to present the exit agreement and the trade agreement.
5 billion for businesses
"The EU will recall what is in the agreement, how the interests of the EU have been defended against the risks of unfair competition, what the agreement allows and what it does not allow. avoid, because the United Kingdom leaves the internal market and the Customs Union, "said the diplomat.
The European Union will finally implement the accompanying measures planned to help EU businesses and sectors of activity, particularly fishing, weakened by the economic consequences of the UK's departure.
A budget of 5 billion euros has been provided for this purpose, with national envelopes.
"Community funds will be available in March 2021, but pre-financing is planned to avoid losses and they will be retroactive to January 1, 2021," he said.
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The agreement was reached on Thursday, December 24 at 2:44 p.m.
With this economic and trade partnership, the EU offers the former member the United Kingdom duty-free and quota-free access to its market of 450 million consumers, but provides for sanctions and compensatory measures in the event failure to comply with its rules on state aid, the environment, labor law and taxation to avoid any dumping.