Tommy Broughan (Dublin Bay North, Independent)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source

38. To ask the Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade his views on whether an Irish representative from his Department should be present at all meetings and stages of the UK-EU Brexit negotiations; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [18001/17]

Charles Flanagan (Laois, Fine Gael)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source

The procedural arrangements that will apply on the EU side in the negotiation process were agreed at the meeting of 27 Heads of State or Government including the Taoiseach on 15 December 2016. These arrangements are based on the provisions of Article 50 of the Treaty on European Union.

The European Commission will be the Union negotiator. Its team will be led by Michel Barnier and will include a representative of the rotating Presidency of the Council. A representative of the President of the European Council will be present alongside the European Commission representatives at all negotiating sessions. As is the case in all European Union negotiations, individual Member States will not be present at these sessions.

The EU27 Member States will monitor progress and give guidance to the Commission through a dedicated Working Party, which in turn will report to Coreper, on which Ireland’s Permanent Representative to the European Union sits. It is expected that the Working Party will meet at least once per week.

This will ensure that the negotiations are carried out under the overall strategic and political guidance of the EU27 Member States through the European Council and the General Affairs Council, supported by a very high level of scrutiny at senior official and Ambassadorial levels.

In line with the arrangements agreed by the 27 Heads of State and Government in December 2016 and following the notification by the UK Government on 29 March of its intention to withdraw from the European Union, the President of the European Council circulated draft EU negotiating guidelines to the 27 Member States.

These draft guidelines will be discussed among the EU27 throughout the month of April, with a view to their adoption by the European Council on 29 April following a preparatory meeting of the General Affairs Council on 27 April. On the basis of the guidelines adopted, negotiating directives will subsequently be prepared for adoption by the General Affairs Council in May. The negotiating directives will provide a formal mandate for the European Commission negotiating team. It will be open to the European Council and Council to update the guidelines and negotiating directives as necessary as the negotiations proceed.

We welcome this balanced approach to the negotiations and will engage fully and intensively with a view to pursuing our national interests and priorities within this framework. We are ready and we will negotiate firmly and fairly, from a position of strength as a member of the EU27 team.