Joint statement by EU and UK negotiators following the videoconference on 15 April 2020

This article is brought to you in association with the European Commission.

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Michel Barnier, the European Commission’s Chief Negotiator, and David Frost, the UK’s Chief Negotiator, held a constructive meeting today via videoconference. The two sides took stock of the technical work that has taken place since the first negotiating round on the basis of the legal texts exchanged by both sides. While this work has been useful to identify all major areas of divergence and convergence, the two sides agreed on the need to organise further negotiating rounds in order to make real, tangible progress in the negotiations by June. Given the ongoing coronavirus crisis, these negotiating rounds – the structure of which is set out in the Terms of Reference – will take place via videoconference. The following dates have been agreed for negotiating rounds lasting a full week: –         w/c 20 April –         w/c 11 May –         w/c 1 June Agendas for all rounds will be published online in due course. The High Level meeting foreseen for June will take stock of the progress made. Mr. Barnier and Mr. Frost also discussed the implementation of the Withdrawal Agreement. They welcomed the fact that a first meeting of the Joint Committee had taken place between Michael Gove and Maroš Šefčovič on 30 March and they looked forward to its next meeting.  They agreed that the proper and timely implementation of the Withdrawal Agreement was a key priority for both sides and noted that the Specialised Committees provided for by the Agreement, including on the Protocol on Ireland / Northern Ireland and on citizens’ rights, would meet soon.