THE EUROPEAN UNION AND THE EUROPEAN ATOMIC ENERGY COMMUNITY
AND
THE UNITED KINGDOM OF GREAT BRITAIN AND NORTHERN IRELAND,
CONSIDERING that on 29 March 2017 the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland ("United Kingdom"), following the outcome of a referendum held in the United Kingdom and its sovereign decision to leave the European Union, notified its intention to withdraw from the European Union ("Union") and the European Atomic Energy Community ("Euratom") in accordance with Article 50 of the Treaty on European Union ("TEU"), which applies to Euratom by virtue of Article 106a of the Treaty establishing the European Atomic Energy Community ("Euratom Treaty"),
WISHING to set out the arrangements for the withdrawal of the United Kingdom from the Union and Euratom, taking account of the framework for their future relationship,
NOTING the guidelines of 29 April and 15 December 2017 and of 23 March 2018 provided by the European Council in the light of which the Union is to conclude the Agreement setting out the arrangements for the withdrawal of the United Kingdom from the Union and Euratom,
RECALLING that, pursuant to Article 50 TEU, in conjunction with Article 106a of the Euratom Treaty, and subject to the arrangements laid down in this Agreement, the law of the Union and of Euratom in its entirety ceases to apply to the United Kingdom from the date of entry into force of this Agreement,
STRESSING that the objective of this Agreement is to ensure an orderly withdrawal of the United Kingdom from the Union and Euratom,
RECOGNISING that it is necessary to provide reciprocal protection for Union citizens and for United Kingdom nationals, as well as their respective family members, where they have exercised free movement rights before a date set in this Agreement, and to ensure that their rights under this Agreement are enforceable and based on the principle of non-discrimination; recognising also that rights deriving from periods of social security insurance should be protected,
RESOLVED to ensure an orderly withdrawal through various separation provisions aiming to prevent disruption and to provide legal certainty to citizens and economic operators as well as to judicial and administrative authorities in the Union and in the United Kingdom, while not excluding the possibility of relevant separation provisions being superseded by the agreement(s) on the future relationship,
CONSIDERING that it is in the interest of both the Union and the United Kingdom to determine a transition or implementation period during which – notwithstanding all consequences of the United Kingdom's withdrawal from the Union as regards the United Kingdom's participation in the institutions, bodies, offices and agencies of the Union, in particular the end, on the date of entry into force of this Agreement, of the mandates of all members of institutions, bodies and agencies of the Union nominated, appointed or elected in relation to the United Kingdom's membership of the Union – Union law , including international agreements, should be applicable to and in the United Kingdom, and, as a general rule, with the same effect as regards the Member States, in order to avoid disruption in the period during which the agreement(s) on the future relationship will be negotiated,
RECOGNISING that, even if Union law will be applicable to and in the United Kingdom during the transition period, the specificities of the United Kingdom as a State having withdrawn from the Union mean that it will be important for the United Kingdom to be able to take steps to prepare and establish new international arrangements of its own, including in areas of Union exclusive competence, provided such agreements do not enter into force or apply during that period, unless so authorised by the Union,
RECALLING that the Union and the United Kingdom have agreed to honour the mutual commitments undertaken while the United Kingdom was a member of the Union through a single financial settlement,
CONSIDERING that in order to guarantee the correct interpretation and application of this Agreement and compliance with the obligations under this Agreement, it is essential to establish provisions ensuring overall governance, in particular binding dispute-settlement and enforcement rules that fully respect the autonomy of the respective legal orders of the Union and of the United Kingdom as well as the United Kingdom's status as a third country,
ACKNOWLEDGING that, for an orderly withdrawal of the United Kingdom from the Union, it is also necessary to establish, in separate protocols to this Agreement, durable arrangements addressing the very specific situations relating to Ireland/Northern Ireland and to the Sovereign Base Areas in Cyprus,
ACKNOWLEDGING further that, for an orderly withdrawal of the United Kingdom from the Union, it is also necessary to establish, in a separate protocol to this Agreement, the specific arrangements in respect of Gibraltar applicable in particular during the transition period,
UNDERLINING that this Agreement is founded on an overall balance of benefits, rights and obligations for the Union and the United Kingdom,
NOTING that in parallel with this Agreement, the Parties have made [precise Title of the JPD],
CONSIDERING that there is a need for both the United Kingdom and the Union to take all necessary steps to begin as soon as possible after 29 March 2019 the formal negotiations of one or several agreements governing their future relationship with a view to ensuring that, to the extent possible, those agreements apply from the end of the transition period,
HAVE AGREED AS FOLLOWS:
Article 1 - 8
Article 9 - 39
Article 40 - 125
Article 126 - 132
Article 133 - 157
Article 158 - 185
The Union and the United Kingdom,
HAVING REGARD to the historic ties and enduring nature of the bilateral relationship between Ireland and the United Kingdom,
RECALLING that the United Kingdom's withdrawal from the Union presents a significant and unique challenge to the island of Ireland, and reaffirming that the achievements, benefits and commitments of the peace process will remain of paramount importance to peace, stability and reconciliation there,
RECOGNISING that it is necessary to address the unique circumstances on the island of Ireland through a unique solution in order to ensure the orderly withdrawal of the United Kingdom from the Union,
RECALLING that the Withdrawal Agreement, which is based on Article 50 TEU, does not aim at establishing a permanent future relationship between the Union and the United Kingdom,
RECALLING the Union's and the United Kingdom's intention to replace the backstop solution on Northern Ireland by a subsequent agreement that establishes alternative arrangements for ensuring the absence of a hard border on the island of Ireland on a permanent footing;
HAVING REGARD to the Union and to the United Kingdom's common objective of a close future relationship, which will establish ambitious customs arrangements that build on the single customs territory provided for in this Protocol, in full respect of their respective legal orders,
AFFIRMING that the Good Friday or Belfast Agreement of 10 April 1998 between the Government of the United Kingdom, the Government of Ireland and the other participants in the multi-party negotiations (the "1998 Agreement"), which is annexed to the British-Irish Agreement of the same date (the "British-Irish Agreement"), including its subsequent implementation agreements and arrangements, should be protected in all its parts,
RECOGNISING that cooperation between Northern Ireland and Ireland is a central part of the 1998 Agreement and is essential for achieving reconciliation and the normalisation of relationships on the island of Ireland, and recalling the roles, functions and safeguards of the Northern Ireland Executive, the Northern Ireland Assembly, and the North-South Ministerial Council (including cross-community provisions), as set out in the 1998 Agreement,
NOTING that Union law has provided a supporting framework to the provisions on Rights, Safeguards and Equality of Opportunity of the 1998 Agreement,
RECOGNISING that Irish citizens in Northern Ireland, by virtue of their Union citizenship, will continue to enjoy, exercise and have access to rights, opportunities and benefits, and that this Protocol should respect and be without prejudice to the rights, opportunities and identity that come with citizenship of the Union for the people of Northern Ireland who choose to assert their right to Irish citizenship as defined in Annex 2 of the British-Irish Agreement "Declaration on the Provisions of Paragraph (vi) of Article 1 in Relation to Citizenship",
RECALLING the commitment of the United Kingdom to protect North-South cooperation and its guarantee of avoiding a hard border, including any physical infrastructure or related checks and controls, and bearing in mind that any future arrangements must be compatible with these overarching requirements,
NOTING that nothing in this Protocol prevents the United Kingdom from ensuring unfettered market access for goods moving from Northern Ireland to the rest of the United Kingdom's internal market,
UNDERLINING the parties' shared aim of avoiding, to the extent possible in accordance with applicable legislation and taking into account their respective regulatory regimes as well as their implementation, controls at the ports and airports of Northern Ireland,
RECALLING that the Joint Report from the negotiators of the European Union and the United Kingdom Government on progress during phase 1 of negotiations under Article 50 TEU on the United Kingdom's orderly withdrawal from the European Union of 8 December 2017 outlines three different scenarios for protecting North-South cooperation and avoiding a hard border, but that this Protocol is based on the third scenario of maintaining full alignment with those rules of the Union's internal market and the customs union which, now or in the future, support North-South cooperation, the all-island economy and the protection of the 1998 Agreement, to apply unless and until an alternative arrangement implementing another scenario is agreed,
NOTING that, in accordance with Article 132 of the Withdrawal Agreement, the transition period may be extended by mutual consent,
RECALLING that the two Parties have carried out a mapping exercise, which shows that North-South cooperation relies to a significant extent on a common European Union legal and policy framework,
NOTING that therefore the United Kingdom's departure from the European Union gives rise to substantial challenges to the maintenance and development of North-South cooperation,
RECALLING that the United Kingdom remains committed to protecting and supporting continued North-South and East-West cooperation across the full range of political, economic, security, societal and agricultural contexts and frameworks of cooperation, including the continued operation of the North-South implementation bodies,
ACKNOWLEDGING the need for this Protocol to be implemented so as to maintain the necessary conditions for continued North-South cooperation, including for possible new arrangements in accordance with the 1998 Agreement,
RECALLING the Union and the United Kingdom's commitments to the North South PEACE and INTERREG funding programmes under the current multi-annual financial framework and to the maintaining of the current funding proportions for the future programme,
AFFIRMING the commitment of the United Kingdom to facilitate the efficient and timely transit through its territory of goods moving from Ireland to another Member State or another third country, or vice versa,
DETERMINED that the application of this Protocol should impact as little as possible on the everyday life of communities both in Ireland and Northern Ireland,
MINDFUL that the rights and obligations of Ireland under the rules of the Union's internal market and customs union must be fully respected,
HAVE AGREED UPON the following provisions, which shall be annexed to the Agreement on the withdrawal of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland from the European Union and the European Atomic Energy Community ("Withdrawal Agreement"):
The Union and the United Kingdom,
RECALLING that the Joint Declaration on the Sovereign Base Areas of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland in Cyprus annexed to the Final Act of the Treaty concerning the Accession of the United Kingdom to the European Communities provided that the arrangements applicable to relations between the European Economic Community and the Sovereign Base Areas will be defined within the context of any agreement between the Community and the Republic of Cyprus,
CONFIRMING that the arrangements applicable to relations between the Union and the Sovereign Base Areas after the withdrawal of the United Kingdom from the Union should continue to be defined within the framework of the Republic of Cyprus' membership of the Union,
TAKING ACCOUNT of the provisions concerning the United Kingdom Sovereign Base Areas of Akrotiri and Dhekelia ("the Sovereign Base Areas") set out in the Treaty concerning the Establishment of the Republic of Cyprus and the associated Exchanges of Notes dated 16 August 1960 ("the Treaty of Establishment"),
CONFIRMING that the withdrawal of the United Kingdom from the Union should not affect the rights and obligations of the Republic of Cyprus under Union law or the rights and obligations of the parties to the Treaty of Establishment,
RECALLING that, from the date of accession of the Republic of Cyprus to the Union, Union law applies in the Sovereign Base Areas only to the extent necessary to ensure the implementation of the arrangements set out in Protocol No 3 on the Sovereign Base Areas of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland in Cyprus annexed to the Act concerning the conditions of accession of the Czech Republic, the Republic of Estonia, the Republic of Cyprus, the Republic of Latvia, the Republic of Lithuania, the Republic of Hungary, the Republic of Malta, the Republic of Poland, the Republic of Slovenia and the Slovak Republic and the adjustments to the Treaties on which the European Union is founded ("Protocol No 3"),
NOTING the Exchange of Notes between the Government of the United Kingdom and the Government of the Republic of Cyprus concerning the administration of the Sovereign Base Areas, dated 16 August 1960, and the attached Declaration by the United Kingdom Government that one of the main objects to be achieved is the protection of the interests of those resident or working in the Sovereign Base Areas, and considering in this context that those persons should have, to the extent possible, the same treatment as those resident or working in the Republic of Cyprus,
NOTING the commitment of the United Kingdom to preserving the application of the arrangements made pursuant to the Treaty of Establishment whereby the authorities of the Republic of Cyprus administer a wide range of public services in the Sovereign Base Areas, including in the fields of agriculture, customs and taxation,
WHEREAS the Sovereign Base Areas should remain part of the customs territory of the Union after the withdrawal of the United Kingdom from the Union,
NOTING the provisions of the Treaty of Establishment regarding customs arrangements between the Sovereign Base Areas and the Republic of Cyprus and in particular those of Part I of Annex F to that Treaty,
NOTING the commitment of the United Kingdom not to create customs posts or other frontier barriers between the Sovereign Base Areas and the Republic of Cyprus and not to establish commercial or civilian seaports or airports,
DESIRING to determine appropriate arrangements for achieving the objectives of the arrangements set out in Protocol No 3 after the withdrawal of the United Kingdom from the Union,
CONSIDERING that the arrangements set out in this Protocol should ensure the proper implementation and enforcement of the relevant provisions of Union law in relation to the Sovereign Base Areas after the withdrawal of the United Kingdom from the Union,
CONSIDERING that appropriate arrangements need to be laid down as regards the relief and exemptions from duties and taxes that the armed forces of the United Kingdom and associated personnel can maintain after the withdrawal of the United Kingdom from the Union,
RECOGNISING that it is necessary to provide for specific arrangements for the checks on goods and persons crossing the external borders of the Sovereign Base Areas, as well as to provide for the terms under which the relevant provisions of Union law apply to the line between the areas in which the Government of the Republic of Cyprus does not exercise effective control and the Sovereign Base Area of Dhekelia, as currently provided on the basis of the Protocol No 10 on Cyprus annexed to the Act concerning the conditions of accession of the Czech Republic, the Republic of Estonia, the Republic of Cyprus, the Republic of Latvia, the Republic of Lithuania, the Republic of Hungary, the Republic of Malta, the Republic of Poland, the Republic of Slovenia and the Slovak Republic and the adjustments to the Treaties on which the European Union is founded ("Protocol No 10"),
RECOGNISING that cooperation between the Republic of Cyprus and the United Kingdom is essential to ensure the effective implementation of the arrangements laid down in this Protocol,
CONSIDERING that on the basis of the arrangements laid down in this Protocol, Union law will apply in relation to the Sovereign Base Areas in certain policy areas of the Union following the withdrawal of the United Kingdom from the Union,
RECOGNISING the unique arrangements relating to persons living and working in the Sovereign Base Areas under the Treaty of Establishment and the 1960 Declaration and the objective of the consistent application of relevant Union law in both the Republic of Cyprus and the Sovereign Base Areas in order to support those arrangements,
NOTING in this regard that through this Protocol the United Kingdom entrusts the Republic of Cyprus, as a Member State of the Union, with responsibility for implementing and enforcing provisions of Union law in the Sovereign Base Areas as provided for in this Protocol,
RECALLING that the Republic of Cyprus is responsible for the implementation and enforcement of Union law in relation to goods destined for or originating in the Sovereign Base Areas that are entering or leaving through a seaport or airport in the Republic of Cyprus,
UNDERLINING that the arrangements set out in this Protocol are without prejudice to Articles 1 and 2 of the Treaty of Establishment and to the positions of the Republic of Cyprus and the United Kingdom thereon,
CONSIDERING that the arrangements laid down in this Protocol should have the sole purpose of regulating the particular situation of the Sovereign Base Areas and should not apply to any other territory or serve as a precedent,
HAVE AGREED UPON the following provisions, which shall be annexed to the Agreement on the withdrawal of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland from the European Union and the European Atomic Energy Community ("Withdrawal Agreement"):
The Union and the United Kingdom,
RECALLING that the United Kingdom is responsible for Gibraltar's external relations, and that Union law is applicable to Gibraltar to the extent provided in the 1972 Act of Accession by virtue of Article 355(3) TFEU,
RECALLING that this Protocol is to be implemented in accordance with the respective constitutional orders of the Kingdom of Spain and of the United Kingdom,
RECALLING that, pursuant to Article 50 TEU, in conjunction with Article 106a of the Euratom Treaty, and subject to the arrangements laid down in the Agreement on the withdrawal of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland from the European Union and the European Atomic Energy Community ("Withdrawal Agreement"), the law of the European Union and of Euratom in its entirety ceases, to apply to the United Kingdom, and therefore to Gibraltar, from the date of entry into force of the Withdrawal Agreement,
CONSIDERING that it is necessary to ensure an orderly withdrawal from the Union in relation to Gibraltar,
STRESSING that the orderly withdrawal of the United Kingdom from the Union in relation to Gibraltar implies that any potential negative effect on the close social and economic relations between Gibraltar and the surrounding area, in particular the territory of the municipalities that make up the Mancomunidad de Municipios del Campo de Gibraltar in the Kingdom of Spain, is adequately addressed,
TAKING NOTE of the commitment of the United Kingdom in respect of Gibraltar to address the payment of benefits in a satisfactory manner by 31 December 2020,
AIMING at continuing to promote balanced economic and social development in the area, in particular in terms of labour conditions, and continuing to ensure the highest levels of environmental protection in accordance with Union law, as well as continuing to strengthen security for the inhabitants of the area, in particular through cooperation in police and customs matters,
ACKNOWLEDGING the benefits for the economic development of the area arising from the free movement of persons under Union law, which will continue to apply during the transition period,
REAFFIRMING in particular the ambition to protect public health, and highlighting the necessity to fight against the serious health, social, and economic consequences of smoking,
EMPHASISING also the need to combat fraud and smuggling and to protect the financial interests of all the parties concerned,
UNDERLINING that this Protocol is without prejudice to the respective legal positions of the Kingdom of Spain and the United Kingdom with regard to sovereignty and jurisdiction,
TAKING NOTE of the Memoranda of Understanding concluded between the Kingdom of Spain and the United Kingdom on [xx] November 2018 in relation to citizens' rights, tobacco and other products, cooperation on environmental matters and cooperation in police and customs matters, as well as the agreement reached on [xx] November 2018 to conclude a treaty on taxation and the protection of financial interests,
HAVE AGREED UPON the following provisions, which shall be annexed to the Withdrawal Agreement:
ANNEX I - SOCIAL SECURITY COORDINATION
ANNEX II - PROVISIONS OF UNION LAW REFERRED TO IN ARTICLE 41(4)
ANNEX III - TIME LIMITS FOR THE SITUATIONS OR CUSTOMS PROCEDURES REFERRED TO IN ARTICLE 49(1)
ANNEX IV - LIST OF NETWORKS, INFORMATION SYSTEMS AND DATABASES REFERRED IN ARTICLES 50, 53, 99 AND 100
ANNEX V - EURATOM
ANNEX VI - LIST OF ADMINISTRATIVE COOPERATION PROCEDURES REFERRED TO IN ARTICLE 98
ANNEX VII - LIST OF ACTS/PROVISIONS REFERRED TO IN ARTICLE 128(6)
ANNEX VIII - RULES OF PROCEDURE OF THE JOINT COMMITTEE AND SPECIALISED COMMITTEES
ANNEX IX - RULES OF PROCEDURE