Thread by @StevePeers

Commission proposals for a negotiation mandate in the next phase of Brexit talks now online. (The details are in the annex). Some thoughts 1/
ec.europa.eu/commission/bre…

2/ First of all, what's the legal status of this?

The European Council (leaders of EU27 countries) last week adopted additional negotiation guidelines. These must now be followed up by a negotiation mandate from the Council (EU27 ministers) for the Commission as EU27 negotiator.

3/ This is the Commission proposal for a negotiation mandate. The Council will probably adopt it in January.

The Council acts by qualified majority vote of the EU27 but will probably aim for consensus (like last time). It can amend the proposal (as it did last time).

4/ The European Parliament has no formal role at this point but makes its views known. Those views have some political relevance since the EP has a veto over the final deal.

5/ Now, the substance. This is an interesting point in the main text: some "Irish issues" will be addressed in the withdrawal agreement, some as part of the future relationship. There's no details on which is which.

6/ From the annex: setting out the basic rule that UK will still apply all EU rules and have to apply new EU legislation adopted during the transition period.

Clarification on justice & home affairs: UK can't opt in to new laws except those amending laws it's already bound by.

7/ Oddly I can't see this derogation mentioned. The joint report on Brexit talks accepted UK would *not* be covered by changes to basic EU budget laws.

This protects UK against its rebate being cut against its will during the transition period, given that it won't have a vote.

8 Important clarification: Commission says EU law should have the same legal effect in the UK during the transition period.

Effectively this would mean the EU Withdrawal Bill would have little or no effect during the transition period.

9/ EU treaties with non-EU countries will no longer apply to the UK - but EU is willing to consider arrangements which maintain their effects.

Relevant particularly to trade and aviation.

10/ UK bound by all EU bodies but will no longer participate in them (but see next tweet).

This includes agencies - so medical, chemical authorisations etc still covered by EU processes.

Note 'full' ECJ jurisdiction - so more ECJ role than in the compromise on citizens' rights.

11/ The exception: UK consultation in Commission committees and EU agencies under certain conditions.

Also consultation on fisheries catches (usually discussed annually, so this means quotas for 2020; UK will have a vote as a Member State when 2019 quotas are set in Dec 2018).

12/ All this to expire not after two years (March 2021) but just before - presumably to match the end of the EU budget cycle.

No discussion of what happens then - that's a future relationship issue.

13/ Issues for UK govt: does this cover trade talks with non-EU countries? The issue isn't mentioned.

Should it *really* cover all new legislation, even laws which don't apply until after 2020? (Directives have a 2 year deadline; laws on next budget cycle are irrelevant to UK)

14/ Would consultation also with the Council and European Parliament be possible? Couldn't the compromises re citizens' rights on ECJ and Commission roles be acceptable? Can the UK be phased on to the future relationship earlier for some issues (suggested in Florence speech)? //