DUP leader Arlene Foster said yesterday that her party had worked with the May government into the early hours of Friday morning to secure changes to the text the DUP had rejected on Monday.
The Monday breakdown had thrown the EU leadership into a crisis out of its fear that the May government was about to be brought down, deepening the already considerable crisis of the EU as a whole.
After all night talks between Foster and May, the PM and Brexit secretary David Davis made an early-hours journey to Brussels to meet with EU leaders Juncker and Barnier. At a 6am press conference in Brussels May and Brexit negotiator Michel Barnier announced a ‘breakthrough’ deal between the UK PM and European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker that will allow the second stage of the talks to take place.
DUP leader Foster said that May had agreed to changes in the Monday text. She said: ‘There have been changes throughout the text and indeed we believe there have been six substantive changes and we are pleased to see those changes because for me it means there is no red line down the Irish Sea and we have very clear confirmation that the entirety of the United Kingdom is leaving the European Union, leaving the single market, leaving the customs union.
‘It’s not perfect from our perspective. We think it’s much improved from Monday but there are still issues that need sorting out. ‘As I understand it, the prime minister believes there is enough to move to phase two. We will make sure that we keep the interests of Northern Ireland and in particular the UK in general to the fore in phase two.’
EU negotiator Barnier agreed that ‘sufficient progress’ had been made in the first phase of Brexit talks. The joint report outlined by May and Juncker at their press conference states that if a trade deal cannot be agreed, the UK will maintain for Ireland ‘full alignment’ with elements of the EU single market and customs union mentioned in the Good Friday agreement.
Some in the DUP would have liked to remove ‘full alignment’ from the report altogether, but that would not have been acceptable to the Irish government. Barnier told journalists that it would apply only to the ‘island of Ireland’, not the rest of the UK: ‘It’s a unique situation, therefore specific solutions are needed.’
May said that EU citizens in the UK would have their rights ‘enshrined in UK law and enforced by British courts’. But the agreement also says the European Court of Justice will continue to have a role in overseeing their rights for eight years after Brexit.
Juncker said that the decision on whether to move forward to talks on trade and the transition to a post-Brexit relationship was in the hands of the leaders of the 27 other EU nations, meeting in Brussels at a European Council summit on Thursday, but said he was ‘confident’ they would do so.
The EC president said: ‘I will always be sad about this development, but now we must start looking to the future, a future in which the UK will remain a close friend and ally.’ May said that the agreement included a financial settlement which was ‘fair to the British taxpayer’ and a guarantee that there will be ‘no hard border’ between Northern Ireland and the Republic, preserving the ‘constitutional and economic integrity of the United Kingdom’.
Britain’s divorce bill is estimated to be £35bn-£39bn (40bn-45bn euros), it has been disclosed.
If the UK wants a transition period beyond 31 December 2020, when the current seven-year EU budget ends, it will have to pay more.
The EU is also leaving open the question of whether or not it will seek additional funds in return for the transition period. The money will be paid over time rather than in a lump sum. TUC general secretary, Frances O’Grady, said the news allowed the government to move on to discussions about what she said were the major issues: ‘How we get a good deal that protects workers’ rights, jobs and livelihoods.’
But she added that it was ‘clear the government’s determination to leave the single market and customs union is getting in the way. ‘The government must drop its self-defeating red lines and put these options back on the table. And, before the next round of talks, we need a sea-change in the way the government acts. Ministers need to bring in the negotiating expertise of unions and employers.’
