BRUSSELS: The EU and Britain on Thursday agreed a draft declaration laying out plans for “ambitious, broad, deep and flexible” relations after Brexit, setting the stage for the divorce to be finalised at a weekend summit.

The EU Council President Donald Tusk said the 26-page declaration, outlining how Britain will work with the bloc on trade, security, the environment and other issues, had been agreed “in principle” and would now be sent to the remaining 27 member states for approval.

Britain’s embattled Prime Minister Theresa May hopes the declaration will convince sceptical lawmakers to approve her vision for the UK’s departure from the bloc.

“This is the right deal for the UK,” she said after updating her cabinet on the text. “The British people want this to be settled. They want a good deal that sets us on course for a brighter future. That deal is within our grasp and I am determined to deliver it.”

The political declaration, seen by AFP, says future ties will be wide-ranging, covering economic cooperation, law enforcement and criminal justice, foreign policy, security and defence.

While the declaration has no legal weight, May will hope that ardent Brexiteers will be appeased by references to Britain developing “an independent trade policy” and spelling out an end to free movement of citizens between the EU and UK — two of the key demands of the Leave campaign.

“I have just sent to EU27 a draft Political Declaration on the Future Relationship between EU and UK,” Tusk, who represents the 27 remaining EU member countries, tweeted. “The Commission President [Jean-Claude Juncker] has informed me that it has been agreed at negotiators’ level and agreed in principle at political level.”

He said EU leaders still have to endorse the draft declaration, which is due to accompany a draft of agreed terms for Britain’s withdrawal from the bloc on March 29.

In an update of the withdrawal agreement, both sides have agreed that the post-Brexit transition per­iod may be extended from its current end date of Dec 31, 2020 “for up to one or two years”.

The transition period is designed to allow governments and businesses to adjust to a new relationship after more than four decades of close ties.

Gibraltar, fish unresolved

But the declaration does not deal with the vexed issues of fishing and Gibraltar, the British territory that sits on an outcrop of southern Spain.

Madrid wants a veto over applying any agreement on post-transition relations to Gibraltar, while some EU countries including France have voiced concerns about access to British fishing waters after Brexit.

European Commission spokesman Margaritis Schinas told reporters the two issues “still need to be addressed and resolved”.

On Wednesday Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez repeated a threat to sink the whole Brexit deal if Madrid’s concerns on Gibraltar were not met.

Published in Dawn, November 23rd, 2018