Mon. Sep 16th, 2024

Brussels, 16 May 2024

Joint statement by European Commission Executive Vice-President Šefčovič and UK Foreign Secretary David Cameron

The European Union (EU) and the United Kingdom (UK) today held a meeting of the Withdrawal Agreement Joint Committee and the Trade and Cooperation Agreement (TCA) Partnership Council, welcoming their close cooperation at a time of threats and challenges to European peace.

The Joint Committee took note of the state of play of the implementation of the Withdrawal Agreement since the last meeting and the work ahead, focussing on citizens’ rights and the Windsor Framework.

On citizens’ rights, both Parties reiterated their commitment to ensure the full implementation of the Withdrawal Agreement, as this continues to be a key shared priority. In that spirit, the EU and the UK welcomed the cooperation until now and agreed that their joint work should intensify further with a view to finding solutions to outstanding issues, with the aim to ensure that all beneficiaries of the Withdrawal Agreement can fully enjoy their rights.

The Joint Committee also addressed the Windsor Framework. The co-chairs welcomed the restoration of the political institutions in Northern Ireland in February 2024. The EU and the UK noted the progress made in the implementation of the Windsor Framework, which has already delivered significant benefits for people and businesses in Northern Ireland, across many areas.

They also discussed a number of outstanding challenges and upcoming milestones, and agreed that intensive work should continue with renewed efforts and commitment to ensure the full implementation of all the elements of the Windsor Framework in a faithful and timely way.

The Joint Committee adopted decisions on implementation of the Windsor Framework, including to allow businesses in Northern Ireland to benefit from UK tariff rate quotas for specific agri-food products, whilst protecting the EU Single Market.

The Partnership Council took stock of progress in implementing the TCA since the last meeting, including the association of the UK to Horizon Europe and Copernicus and the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding on financial services regulatory cooperation. The co-chairs welcomed the intensive activity of the joint bodies established under the TCA which resulted in more than 25 formal meetings last year.

On climate and energy, they exchanged on cooperation on new technologies to facilitate the green transition. The co-chairs committed to work towards a working group on security of supply and a roadmap to oversee work on efficient electricity trading arrangements envisaged by the TCA.

In the area of trade and level playing field they welcomed the upcoming negotiations on the competition cooperation agreement and called for a regular exchange of information on market surveillance of non-food products. They also discussed the UK “Border Target Operating Model”.

On health security, the co-chairs called for strengthened cooperation between the European Centre for Disease Control and the UK Health Security Agency and invited them to continue work towards a joint action plan.

The Partnership Council also discussed recent UK measures in the area of fisheries and the EU raised access to waters post-2026.

They noted progress over the past year in the area of security, including work on counter-terrorism and cyber. They discussed their commitments in respect of law enforcement and judicial cooperation under the TCA. The co-chairs agreed to progress technical work to allow for automated searching of vehicle registration data.

The co-chairs agreed that the joint bodies under the TCA should work at pace to take forward the implementation priorities identified today. They reaffirmed their commitment to fully exploiting the potential the TCA has to offer.

Source – EU Commission

 


Joint Statement on the progress of the EU-UK Agreement in respect of Gibraltar

This was the second meeting in this format, building on significant progress of 12 April. Today’s discussions took place in a constructive atmosphere, with important breakthroughs and additional areas of agreement. All sides are reassured that the agreement is getting closer and will work closely and rapidly on outstanding areas towards an overall EU-UK agreement.

The meeting reaffirmed their shared commitment to concluding an EU-UK Agreement to bring confidence, legal certainty and stability to the lives and livelihoods of the people of the whole region, by protecting and improving economy, trade, mobility, environment, and social wellbeing, while safeguarding all parties’ legal positions.

They all agreed to remain in close and constant contact.

Source – EU Commission

 


Press remarks by Executive Vice-President Sefcovic following the meetings of the EU-UK Joint Committee and EU-UK Partnership Council

Brussels, 16 May 2024

Good evening. I am glad to be here to inform you about very important meetings I hosted today.

First, with the United Kingdom, we met in the context of the EU-UK Joint Committee on the Withdrawal Agreement and the EU-UK Partnership Council under the Trade and Cooperation Agreement.

You have seen our joint statement issued earlier, which allows me to highlight a few main points.

In the Joint Committee that I co-chaired with Foreign Secretary David Cameron, we discussed two issues that are the necessary cornerstone of our relationship with the UK: the implementation of the Windsor Framework and the issue of citizens’ rights.

On citizens’ rights, this remains a clear priority for the EU, including for the European Parliament and our Member States – and therefore, we can never let our guard down because it impacts real lives.

Put simply, in this important area, all beneficiaries on both sides must always enjoy all rights guaranteed by the Withdrawal Agreement.

I am glad that we share this commitment. The hard work continues.

Turning to the Windsor Framework: let me begin by reiterating that the Framework is a remarkable achievement with tangible benefits for people and businesses in Northern Ireland – therefore, it both requires and deserves faithful implementation in all its dimensions.

And it is already delivering on the ground.

Therefore, I am glad that we have agreed to intensify our work and efforts to make sure that all the elements of the Windsor Framework are put in practice in a faithful and timely way.

On the Partnership Council, our objective remains the same: to fully exploit the potential that our Trade and Cooperation Agreement has to offer.

I believe that the deliverables we have seen since our last Partnership Council in March last year speak for themselves – Horizon Europe, Copernicus or regulatory cooperation on financial services, to name a few.

Today, we discussed in particular climate and energy, health security, fisheries, and competition issues, as well as security in general.

We identified a number of areas in which the EU and the UK can deepen their cooperation. And we looked ahead to over 25 meetings of our joint bodies under the TCA this year alone.

There is no doubt that the EU and the UK face many common challenges, often global in nature. Take for instance, Russia’s war against Ukraine or climate change – we very much value our close cooperation on these issues.

In this context, I believe that today’s Partnership Council has set the right tone for our joint work under the TCA.

Following these two important meetings, I hosted talks on Gibraltar with Spanish Minister for Foreign Affairs Jose Manuel Albares, and UK Foreign Secretary David Cameron, together with Chief Minister of Gibraltar Fabian Picardo.

This was our second meeting in this format, building on significant progress of 12 April.

As said, today’s discussions took place in a constructive atmosphere, with important breakthroughs and additional areas of agreement.

We all are reassured that the agreement is getting closer and will work closely and rapidly on outstanding areas towards an overall EU-UK agreement.

Today’s meeting reaffirmed our shared commitment to concluding an EU-UK Agreement, to bring confidence, legal certainty and stability to the lives and livelihoods of the people of the whole region, by protecting and improving economy, trade, mobility, environment, and social wellbeing, while safeguarding all parties’ legal positions.

We all agreed to remain in close and constant contact.

Source – EU Commission

 

Forward to your friends