Brexit Negotiations: What is in the Withdrawal Agreement

On Sunday 25 Novembers EU27 leaders endorsed the draft Brexit withdrawal agreement and approved the draft political declaration on future EU-UK relations.

The Withdrawal Agreement establishes the terms of the UK's withdrawal from the EU. It ensures that the withdrawal will happen in an orderly manner, and offers legal certainty once the Treaties and EU law will cease to apply to the UK.

The European Council has now invited the Commission, the European Parliament and the Council to take the necessary steps to ensure that the agreement can enter into force on 30 March 2019, so as to provide for an orderly withdrawal.

The Union and United Kingdom are determined to work together to safeguard the rules-based international order, the rule of law and promotion of democracy, and high standards of free and fair trade and workers’ rights, consumer and environmental protection, and cooperation against internal and external threats to their values and interests.

The European Union is determined to have as close as possible a partnership with the United Kingdom in the future; the Union's approach will continue to be defined by the overall positions and principles set out in the previously agreed European Council's guidelines.

How were negotiations conducted?

As with any 'divorce' the settling of terms was a complex matter. Throughout the negotiations, the European Commission has ensured an inclusive process with regular meetings with the 27 EU Member States at different levels. The European Commission has also been in close and regular contact with the European Parliament to ensure that its views and positions are duly taken into account. Additional input from the EU consultative bodies and stakeholders has helped the European Commission gather evidence of the EU-wide impact of the United Kingdom's withdrawal from the EU.

The negotiations have been carried out with unprecedented transparency. The European Commission has published negotiating documents which have been shared with EU Member States, the Council of the European Union, the European Parliament, and the United Kingdom, as well as European Council guidelines, essential principles papers defining the EU's negotiating positions, and all other relevant documents. These documents are available on the European Commission's website on the negotiations. 

What has been agreed on separation issues?

In agreement with the European Council (Article 50) guidelines, the Withdrawal Agreement, where needed, seeks to ensure an orderly withdrawal and provides the detailed provisions for the winding down of ongoing processes and arrangements in a number of policy areas. 

These include goods placed on the market, minimising disruption in distribution chains at the end of the transition period, ongoing movements of goods from a customs perspective, protection of intellectual property rights, ongoing police and judicial cooperation, and use of data and information exchanged before the end of the transition period.

The transition period

The Withdrawal Agreement provides for a transition period until the end of 2020. The continued application of EU law during this period will give time to national administrations and businesses to prepare for the new relationship. It will also provide the EU and the UK with time to negotiate the future relationship.

The transition period is set to end on 31 December 2020, taking into account the initial request from the UK for a transition period of around two years, and making it coincide with the end of the current long-term EU budget (the Multiannual Financial Framework 2014-2020).

For a comprehensive explanation of the Withdrawal Agreement, what has been agreen on and next steps, read the European Commission's fact sheet on the Brexit negotiations.

For a review of the negotiation process from the referendum until this summit, read this scrolling story.

For more background information on the he Article 50 negotiation process and principles for the United Kingdom's departure from the European Union. go to the European Commission's Brexit negotiation website