Brexit transition: UK will have no right to be in room while EU laws are made, but will have to follow them

Tory right increasingly outraged by Brexit transition period

The European Commission headquarters at the Berlaymont Building in Brussels (Getty)

Britain will have no right to even be in the room while EU laws are made, despite having to implement them in full during the Brexit transition period, according to leaked negotiating guidelines drawn up by Brussels.

Updated guidelines for chief negotiator Michel Barnier dated 22 January 2018 specifically state that “as a general rule, the UK will not attend meetings” of key committees involved in drafting European regulations.

EU negotiators are set to insist that “exceptionally, on case-by-case basis” other EU states could “invite” Britain to observe a meeting without any right to influence its content – but only if it is in the interests of the EU, or the issue is solely about the UK.

The as yet unfinalised guidelines are likely to rile up hardline Brexiteers even further, some of whom were already incensed by the idea the UK would have to follow EU laws without voting rights in EU institutions like the council and parliament.

Jacob Rees-Mogg, the keeper of the Brexiteer flame on the Tory right wing, has said such proposals would amount to the UK being a “vassal state” of the EU for years after Britain leaves on 29 March 2019.

The documents also confirm that the EU is pushing ahead with plans to keep free movement extended to the UK in full until at least 2021 as part of the transition, and Brussels will demand a legal veto over any trade deals the UK wants to sign with other countries.

David Davis yesterday rejected the idea that Britain would be a “vassal” of the EU under the plans, telling a parliamentary committee that as long as the arrangement was only for a “short time” it would be an acceptable compromise.

Negotiations on the transition phase are set to restart in earnest within weeks in Brussels, after a pause in talks over the new year period. Discussions on the trade framework are due to begin in March this year.

The Independent revealed over the last week that British officials did not object to the EU’s plans for the Norway-style transition period when the issue was raised with them in meetings. MEPs said the UK had effectively already “agreed in principle” to the thrust of the terms.