Latest Brexit news: The key points on divorce bill, EU citizens rights and Irish border as first phase of deal agreed

Prime Minister Theresa May shakes hands with Jean-Claude Juncker
Reuters
8 December 2017
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Theresa May secured the go-ahead for trade talks with the EU early today in a deal that will see Britain pay a Brexit divorce bill of between £35 billion and £39 billion.

The breakthrough was hailed by Mr May as "a hard-won agreement in all our interests", while European Commission president Jean-Claude Juncker said it represented "sufficient progress" for negotiations to move on to their second phase.

In dramatic pre-dawn scenes, Mrs May and Brexit Secretary David Davis flew to Brussels to confirm with Mr Juncker the text of a joint document setting out proposals on the key divorce issues of citizens' rights, the Irish border and Britain's exit bill.

Here are some of the key points of the joint report agreed between the UK and EU on the expected content of Britain's Withdrawal Agreement:

Ulster: ‘red line’ rubbed off map

"In the absence of agreed solutions, the United Kingdom will maintain full alignment with those rules of the Internal Market and the Customs Union which, now or in the future, support North-South cooperation, the all-island economy and the protection of the 1998 Agreement."

DUP leader Arlene Foster said today six “substantive” changes were made to the agreement after her party blocked it at the start of the week. The amendments made clear there would be no “red line down the Irish Sea”, she added, and no “special status” for Northern Ireland.

The text states: “The United Kingdom will ensure that no new regulatory barriers develop between Northern Ireland and the rest of the United Kingdom, unless, consistent with the 1998 [Good Friday] Agreement, the Northern Ireland Executive and Assembly agree that distinct arrangements are appropriate for Northern Ireland.” Ms Foster said some DUP MPs still had concerns over the reference to “alignment”.

Divorce bill: between £35Bn and £39Bn

"The UK will contribute to, and participate in, the implementation of the Union annual budgets for the years 2019 and 2020 as if it had remained in the Union… The UK will contribute its share of the financing of the budgetary commitments outstanding at 31 December 2020."

The agreement does not put a figure on the final “divorce bill” but it is expected to be between £35 billion and £39 billion, according to a British source. Larger payments will be made initially and they will then taper off. The financial settlement “will be drawn up and paid in euro”.

A methodology has been agreed for calculating the bill that includes a set of principles, arrangements for continued participation of the UK in current EU programmes and financial and related arrangements for the European Investment Bank, the European Central Bank, European Union trust funds, the Facility for Refugees in Turkey, Council agencies and also the European Development Fund.

Citizens’ rights: Euro court keeps a role

"The Agreement should also establish a mechanism enabling UK courts … to decide … to ask the CJEU (European Court of Justice) questions of interpretation of those rights….This mechanism should be available for UK courts…for litigation brought within 8 years from the date of application of the citizens’ rights Part."

More than three million EU citizens will be allowed to live and work in the UK in line with current freedom of movement principles. The deal will include reunification rights for relatives — including spouses, parents, grandparents, children and grandchildren — who do not live in the UK to join them in the future and will extend to future spouses or partners of EU citizens.

In applying EU citizens’ rights, UK courts will have “due regard to relevant decisions” of the European Court of Justice after withdrawal. Controversially, the EC J will continue to have a role in overseeing EU citizens’ rights in the UK for eight years.

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