We are at 75%, but the last 25% is the hardest.
This is what David Davis MP, the Secretary of State for Exiting the European Union said on the progress of the UK’s negotiations on EU Withdrawal.
The June 2018 report (pdf) by the Exiting the European Union Committee gives the latest details on Brexit negotiations from March to May 2018.
The report comments on citizens’ rights, the customs union, the Northern Irish border and a meaningful vote for Parliament on the EU Withdrawal Bill and states that there is still much uncertainty around these issues.
Key points from the report include:
- The Committee calls on the Government and the Commission to set out their negotiation objectives on citizens’ rights in a new Joint Technical Note.
- The Committee encourages the Government to publish the process for EU citizens applying for Settled Status in more detail as soon as possible and to continue its engagement with EU citizens in the UK on their outstanding concerns.
- The treatment of the Windrush generation was an appalling scandal and it has undermined trust in the ability of the Home Office to register and process applications for EU citizens living in the UK.
- EU Member States must set out what UK citizens should do to regularise their residential status, and communicate this information clearly.
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The Committee states it is ‘highly unsatisfactory’ that Ministers have not yet agreed on preferred trading and customs arrangements and calls on the Government to set out clearly its proposals on customs beyond 2020, and any contingency plans, as a matter of urgency.
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The Government must urgently set out a backstop Protocol in the draft Withdrawal Agreement relating to the Northern Ireland border.
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There is a great deal of continuing uncertainty about the Government’s plans for providing Parliament with its meaningful vote and the Commission is undertaking separate work on this which will be reported in due course.
