This article is from the source 'guardian' and was first published or seen on . It last changed over 40 days ago and won't be checked again for changes.
You can find the current article at its original source at https://www.theguardian.com/politics/live/2020/feb/25/brexit-eu-mandate-trade-talks-ministers-meet-to-agree-negotiating-mandate-for-trade-talks-with-uk-live-news
The article has changed 23 times. There is an RSS feed of changes available.
| Version 0 | Version 1 |
|---|---|
| Brexit: EU ministers meet to agree negotiating mandate for trade talks with UK - live news | Brexit: EU ministers meet to agree negotiating mandate for trade talks with UK - live news |
| (31 minutes later) | |
| Rolling coverage of the day’s political developments as they happen, including the EU agreeing its negotiating mandate for the post-Brexit trade talks with the UK, and the Guardian’s Labour leadership hustings in Manchester | Rolling coverage of the day’s political developments as they happen, including the EU agreeing its negotiating mandate for the post-Brexit trade talks with the UK, and the Guardian’s Labour leadership hustings in Manchester |
| At the general affairs council in Brussels Helen McEntee, the Irish Europe minister, and Simon Coveney, the Irish foreign minister, have just arrived. They say they have come from a meeting with Michel Barnier, the EU’s chief Brexit negotiator. | |
| Coveney says the EU is doing what it has always done in the Brexit process - staying united, and sticking to deadlines. | |
| He says that, from the Irish perspective, the text is strong. | |
| But he says the EU wants to be sure that the agreements already struck in the withdrawal agreement must be implemented in full. He says the arrangements in the Northern Ireland protocal must be ready to go at the end of the year. | |
| He says the EU mandate amounts to a “generous and fair” offer to the UK. And it protects Ireland. | |
| Q: What will happen if the UK does not implement the protocol? | |
| Coveney says that would have have very serious impact. | |
| Implementing agreements that have already been struck is a test of “good faith”. | |
| He says if there is no process in the next few months on implementing the protocol that would amount to a very worrying signal. | |
| He says Barnier agrees with the Irish government on this. | |
| If the UK does not implement the deal, that would damage the prospects of even a “bare bones” trade deal being agreed by the end of this year. | |
| But he says today he wants to focus on the positive. | |
| Whatever has been agreed in an international treaty needs to be implemented in full. | |
| He says the joint committee being set up under the Northern Ireland protocol is not there to carry out a negotiation. It is there to implement something that has already been agreed, he says. | |
| EU ministers are meeting this morning to sign off the text of their negotiating mandate for the post-Brexit trade talks with the UK. As my colleague Daniel Boffey reports, the EU will demand the UK maintains a ban on chlorinated chicken as the price for a trade agreement with Brussels. Here is an extract from his story. | EU ministers are meeting this morning to sign off the text of their negotiating mandate for the post-Brexit trade talks with the UK. As my colleague Daniel Boffey reports, the EU will demand the UK maintains a ban on chlorinated chicken as the price for a trade agreement with Brussels. Here is an extract from his story. |
| And here is the story in full. | And here is the story in full. |
| EU ministers are still arriving at the general affairs council meeting in Brussels, and there is a live feed of the arrivals here. I will post some extracts from what they have been saying shortly. | EU ministers are still arriving at the general affairs council meeting in Brussels, and there is a live feed of the arrivals here. I will post some extracts from what they have been saying shortly. |
| Here is the agenda for the day. | Here is the agenda for the day. |
| Morning: EU ministers meet at the general affairs council to agree the EU’s negotiating mandate for the trade talks with the UK. | Morning: EU ministers meet at the general affairs council to agree the EU’s negotiating mandate for the trade talks with the UK. |
| 9.30am: Boris Johnson chairs cabinet. After that Johnson will chair a meeting of the cabinet’s EU exit strategy (XS) committee which will agree the UK’s own negotiating strategy. | 9.30am: Boris Johnson chairs cabinet. After that Johnson will chair a meeting of the cabinet’s EU exit strategy (XS) committee which will agree the UK’s own negotiating strategy. |
| 12pm: Downing Street lobby briefing. | 12pm: Downing Street lobby briefing. |
| Around 1.30pm: The EU is due to hold a press conference following the GAC meeting. | Around 1.30pm: The EU is due to hold a press conference following the GAC meeting. |
| 6.30pm: The Labour leadership candidates Sir Keir Starmer, Rebecca Long-Bailey and Lisa Nandy speak at a hustings event organised by the Guardian in Manchester. My colleague Anushka Ashthana is chairing it. | 6.30pm: The Labour leadership candidates Sir Keir Starmer, Rebecca Long-Bailey and Lisa Nandy speak at a hustings event organised by the Guardian in Manchester. My colleague Anushka Ashthana is chairing it. |
| The National Farmers’ Union is also starting its conference in Birmingham. Minette Batters, the NFU president, is speaking. | The National Farmers’ Union is also starting its conference in Birmingham. Minette Batters, the NFU president, is speaking. |
| As usual, we will be covering breaking political news as it happens, as well as bringing you the best reaction, comment and analysis from the web. I will be blogging this morning, a colleague will take over in the afternoon while I get a train to Manchester, and then I will be covering the Labour hustings. | As usual, we will be covering breaking political news as it happens, as well as bringing you the best reaction, comment and analysis from the web. I will be blogging this morning, a colleague will take over in the afternoon while I get a train to Manchester, and then I will be covering the Labour hustings. |
| You can read all the latest Guardian politics articles here. Here is the Politico Europe roundup of this morning’s political news. And here is the PoliticsHome list of today’s top 10 must-reads. | You can read all the latest Guardian politics articles here. Here is the Politico Europe roundup of this morning’s political news. And here is the PoliticsHome list of today’s top 10 must-reads. |
| If you want to follow me or contact me on Twitter, I’m on @AndrewSparrow. | If you want to follow me or contact me on Twitter, I’m on @AndrewSparrow. |
| I try to monitor the comments below the line (BTL) but it is impossible to read them all. If you have a direct question, do include “Andrew” in it somewhere and I’m more likely to find it. I do try to answer questions, and if they are of general interest, I will post the question and reply above the line (ATL), although I can’t promise to do this for everyone. | I try to monitor the comments below the line (BTL) but it is impossible to read them all. If you have a direct question, do include “Andrew” in it somewhere and I’m more likely to find it. I do try to answer questions, and if they are of general interest, I will post the question and reply above the line (ATL), although I can’t promise to do this for everyone. |
| If you want to attract my attention quickly, it is probably better to use Twitter. | If you want to attract my attention quickly, it is probably better to use Twitter. |