The European Council, July 2018 to November 2019
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European Council European Council Rue de la Loi/Wetstraat 175 1048 Bruxelles/Brussel BELGIQUE/BELGIË Tel. +32 (0)2 281 61 11 www.consilium.europa.eu The European Council July 2018 to November 2019 Print PDF ISBN 978-92-824-7057-2 ISBN 978-92-824-7040-4 A report by the President ISSN 1977-3110 ISSN 2363-2828 doi:10.2860/9675 doi:10.2860/72365 Volume 3. November 2019 QC-AO-19-001-EN-C QC-AO-19-001-EN-N The European Council July 2018 to November 2019 A report by the President Volume 3. November 2019 This publication is produced by the General Secretariat of the Council. www. consilium.europa.eu Luxembourg: Publications Office of the European Union, 2019 Print ISBN 978-92-824-7040-4 ISSN 1977-3110 doi:10.2860/9675 QC-AO-19-001-EN-C PDF ISBN 978-92-824-7057-2 ISSN 2363-2828 doi:10.2860/72365 QC-AO-19-001-EN-N © European Union, 2019 Reproduction is authorised provided the source is acknowledged. Europa building: © Philippe Samyn and Partners architects and engineers – lead and design partner, Studio Valle Progettazioni architects, Buro Happold engineers; colour compositions: © Georges Meurant, 2016 Photo credits in the end of the publication. For any use or reproduction of photos or other material that is not under EU copyright, permission must be sought directly from the copyright holders. Contents Remaining united despite Brexit The European Council, July 2018 to November 2019 Introduction 5 Avoiding the chaos of Brexit 6 Using social media to influence EU politics 11 Strengthening the EU globally 14 Facing tomorrow’s challenges 20 Conclusion 24 European Council meetings – September 2018 to October 2019 27 Conclusions of the European Council, statements by Heads of State or Government and selected interventions by President Tusk 29 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 Leaders meet in the European Council to provide steering and strategic guidance for the work of the EU 1. Ireland’s Taoiseach Leo Varadkar, the Netherlands’ PM Mark Rutte, Latvia’s PM Krišjānis Kariņš and Lithuania’s President Gitanas Nausėda; 2. Denmark’s PM Mette Frederiksen and Luxembourg’s PM Xavier Bettel; 3. Portugal’s PM António Costa, European Council’s President-elect Charles Michel and European Commission’s President-elect Ursula von der Leyen; 4. Italy’s PM Giuseppe Conte and Germany’s Federal Chancellor Angela Merkel; 5. Malta’s PM Joseph Muscat, United Kingdom’s PM Boris Johnson and Slovakia’s PM Peter Pellegrini; 6. European Union’s Chief Negotiator for Brexit Michel Barnier, Estonia’s PM Jüri Ratas and Romania’s President Klaus Werner Iohannis; 7. European Parliament’s President David Sassoli, France’s President Emmanuel Macron and Cyprus’ President Nicos Anastasiades; 8. Finland’s PM Antii Rinne and Poland’s PM Mateusz Morawiecki; 9. European Commission’s President Jean-Claude Juncker; 10. Spain’s PM Pedro Sánchez Pérez-Castejón, Sweden’s PM Stefan Löfven and Greece’s PM Kyriakos Mitsotakis; 11. European Council’s President Donald Tusk and Slovenia’s PM Marjan Šarec; 12. Bulgaria’s PM Boyko Borissov and Hungary’s PM Viktor Orbán 4 Remaining united despite Brexit The European Council July 2018 to November 2019 Introduction This report, the third in a series, sets out the work of The first volume concerned the struggle to prevent the European Council from July 2018 to the end of Greece’s exit from the euro area in July 2015, the November 2019. This final volume focuses on how, negotiations with Prime Minister Cameron to secure three years after the referendum result, the terms for Britain’s place in the EU as well as the Union’s response an orderly Brexit were settled with Prime Minister to the migration crisis — the irregular arrival of over Johnson, pointing the way forward for talks on the 1.6 million people to Italy and Greece in 2015 and future EU-UK partnership, and extending the date of 2016. The second volume explained how the Union Brexit to 31 January 2020. It highlights the European and its member states restored order in that crisis, Council’s work on internal and external security, stemming the migration flows through the protection migration, global cooperation, economy and trade. of external borders and enhancing co-operation with There are additional highlights from the work of third countries. It also detailed how the EU27 prepared President Donald Tusk, who has been representing the for and conducted UK withdrawal negotiations with Union externally during a time when the international Theresa May’s government. Last but not least, these rules-based order was under considerable pressure; reports describe the continuous efforts made to when Europe faced serious internal and external strengthen the Economic and Monetary Union and threats; and when the true scale of challenges such as the euro. global warming and the pace of technological change became ever more obvious. 5 Avoiding the chaos of Brexit In the summer of 2018, following 15 months of talks readiness to cooperate closely in the area of security with Theresa May’s government, we were still in the and foreign policy. middle of Brexit negotiations. While many issues had The momentum for the negotiations shifted further. become clearer, there was a great deal of work to be By the October European Council there was some done and the most difficult tasks were unresolved. If we progress, but we were not there yet. However, on 15 wanted to reach an agreement in October, we needed November the EU’s chief negotiator Michel Barnier rapid progress. This was the last moment to lay the presented the 585-page draft text agreed with the cards on the table. The message was conveyed to Prime UK. This deal was proposed to leaders for approval Minister May that the sooner we received a precise for two reasons. First, it ensured the limitation of the UK proposal on the Irish border, the more likely it damage caused by Brexit. Second, it secured the vital was that the Brexit negotiations could be completed interests and principles of the 27 member states, and on time. The goal was to avoid a hard border on the of the European Union as a whole. Crucially, the text island of Ireland. We also needed realistic and workable included a ‘backstop’ to prevent a hard border on the proposals for our future relations. island of Ireland, which was designed to function as a When the EU27 leaders met for an informal meeting in kind of insurance policy. The ‘backstop’ arrangement Salzburg that September, everyone shared a pessimistic view. It was clear that the latest UK ideas on the Irish border and on future economic cooperation – the so-called Chequers proposal – risked Discussing with former PM May at the fringes of the ASEM Summit, October 2018 undermining the Single Market and needed to be reworked. They seemed to reflect the ‘having cake and eating it’ philosophy, which was championed by the then former foreign secretary Boris Johnson. The UK government appeared to have quite high expectations ahead of the summit, and so the EU’s negative assessment was received badly. Various scenarios were still possible, but Prime Minister May’s subsequent proposals indicated a positive evolution in the UK’s approach as well as a will to minimise the negative effects of Brexit. This included, amongst other things, the 6 Donald Tusk @eucopresident · 15 November 2018 Let me say to our British friends: as much as I am sad to see you leave, I will do everything to make this farewell the least painful possible, both for you and for us. would apply unless and until it was superseded by later in the so-called ‘Strasbourg agreement’. The an alternative solution in the context of our future following day, the British parliament voted against the trading relations. The European Council endorsed deal for a second time. With 17 days left before Brexit, the agreement one week later. However, the difficult we needed ideas from London on how to proceed now. process of ratification and negotiations of future Before the March European Council, Prime Minister relations were still ahead of us. May sent a letter asking for an extension of the Brexit Given that the UK government expected problems deadline to 30 June 2019. On 21 March, EU leaders with ratification in the UK, in December 2018 and agreed to grant a delay: if the Withdrawal Agreement January 2019, the EU27 provided clarification on were passed by the House of Commons the following the backstop, explaining that it was intended strictly week, we would extend the deadline to 22 May 2019, as a last resort. Despite this, on 16 January 2019 the to allow for all procedures to be finalised. In the event UK’s House of Commons overwhelmingly rejected that the House of Commons voted it down, EU leaders the Withdrawal Agreement, with the backstop being agreed on a shorter extension to 12 April, expecting the main point of contention. More measures and the UK to indicate the way forward. This date was legal guarantees were agreed between the European important in terms of the UK holding European Commission and Prime Minister May two months Parliament elections, as it would still be an EU The EU’s chief negotiator Michel Barnier presents the draft text of the Withdrawal Agreement in November 2018 7 Donald Tusk @eucopresident · 25 November 2018 Ahead of us is the difficult process of ratification as well as further negotiations. But regardless of how it will end, one thing is certain: we will remain friends until the end of days, and one day longer.