Stephen Donnelly (Wicklow, Fianna Fail)
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65. To ask the Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade if the Government has put forward or plans putting forward specific policy proposals for phase two of the Brexit negotiations; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [3507/18]

Simon Coveney (Cork South Central, Fine Gael)
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Based on the additional Guidelines on the Article 50 negotiations adopted by the European Council on 15 December 2017, work during phase 2 of the negotiations will focus on three distinct areas: completing work on the withdrawal issues and on drafting the Withdrawal Agreement; transitional arrangements and; preparatory work for discussions on the future EU-UK relationship.Ireland has clear positions across all three of these areas and I will continue to articulate these at the General Affairs Council (Art. 50) as well as during my bilateral contacts with EU counterparts and with the EU Chief Negotiator, Michel Barnier, in the coming weeks and months. Through the Permanent Representation in Brussels, Irish officials are engaging on a daily basis with the Commission Taskforce and with the relevant Article 50 preparatory bodies. Their work is being informed and prepared by the cross-Governmental coordination structures convened by my Department. As concerns the withdrawal issues, I welcome that the Guidelines agreed in December underline that negotiations in phase two can only progress as long as all commitments undertaken regarding citizens’ rights, the financial settlement and the Irish-specific issues during the first phase are respected in full and translated faithfully into legal terms as quickly as possible. A key focus in the coming weeks and months will therefore be on completing work on the withdrawal issues and on drafting the relevant parts of the Withdrawal Agreement.

It will also be important to maintain a clear focus on the unique challenges faced by Ireland and I welcome that all aspects of the Irish specific issues will continue to be worked on in a distinct stream of work in phase 2.

As concerns transitional arrangements, I welcome that these have been identified as an early priority in phase 2 and that the European Commission Taskforce proposed additional negotiating Directives on transitional arrangements on 20 December. These draft Directives, which propose a ‘status-quo’ transitional arrangement, are currently being discussed by the EU27 Member States with a view to their agreement at the General Affairs Council (Art. 50) on 29 January which I will attend. Once these additional negotiating directives are agreed by the Council, the Commission will be in a position to begin negotiations with the UK on this issue.

In the Guidelines of 15 December, the European Council also invited the Commission and the Council to continue preparations for the negotiations on the framework for the EU-UK future relationship with a view to agreeing additional Guidelines at the European Council on 22-23 March 2018. In this regard, I welcome that the Guidelines reaffirm the EU’s desire to establish a close partnership with the UK. This is in line with Ireland’s objective of having the closest possible relationship between the EU and the UK, including on trade. It is now important for the UK to provide further clarity on what it wants for the future relationship with the EU. The EU remains open to all options, in line with the principles agreed by the European Council.

In the coming weeks and months, Ireland will continue to work closely with its EU partners and the European Commission Task Force, and with the UK, to ensure the commitments made in phase one are delivered in full and that Ireland’s wider interests are protected and advanced in the EU’s approach to the negotiations on transitional arrangements and the future relationship. In the course of these engagements, as has been the case to date, Ireland will continue, in contacts with the Commission, the European Parliament and other member States, and in the structures of the Council of Ministers, to seek to deliver on our objectives and priorities for the Brexit negotiations. At the same time, I would stress that it is the Commission which is the Union’s negotiator, operating within the scope of the guidelines adopted by the European Council and the more detailed negotiating directives adopted by the General Affairs Council.