Welcome news, with a reminder that there can be some considerable time between concluding negotiations with the EU (December 2023) and the EU being ready to sign the agreement (planned for September 2026)… and we still have ratification to come www.consilium.europa.eu/en/press/pre...

"Gibraltarian officials will carry out their own passport checks. But the UK and Gibraltar accepted having Spanish border police at the airport as the price for removing all passport controls on the adjacent Gibraltar-Spain land border, a key win for [Gibraltar's] economy" www.ft.com/content/47f8...

Polling does, yes, show that more voters in Northern Ireland (36%) than in GB (29%) support UK withdrawal from the ECHR Importantly same poll also found that more NI voters - indeed majority (58%) - oppose leaving the ECHR Figure for GB = 46% More… www.theguardian.com/politics/202...

A 'decision-making' role was always going to be turned down - the autonomy of its decision-making processes is an EU red line - but 'decision-shaping' has always been envisaged. The question is what form(s) will that entail... and that/they will depend on... www.ft.com/content/c5b0...

Indeed EEA is no easy option Also, EEA membership requires agreement of the participating EFTA states - and Norway has never been keen on UK joining To apply to join, it is expected that you have joined EFTA And in the EEA, EFTA states have to speak with one voice ukandeu.ac.uk/no-eea-sy-op...

"If Brexit was a genie most people in the UK regret releasing, those with their hands on the next bottle marked ‘Taking back control’ need to think very carefully about Northern Ireland before they twist the cap" - @katyhayward.bsky.social & me for @ukandeu.bsky.social ukandeu.ac.uk/dangerously-...

‘Own merits’ playing out www.euronews.com/my-europe/20...

“firms can technically reclaim some EU duties… [but] this does not remove the underlying pressure on businesses… companies must pay tariffs upfront, absorb the cash-flow hit, and meet complex evidentiary requirements before any money is repaid” www.politico.eu/article/nort...

‘putting a price tag on accession goes a long way in substantiating the argument, seeing it in plain economic terms… [For] Montenegro… the European Commission estimates the cost will be €3.2 billion – "less than one euro per EU citizen per year".’ www.euractiv.com/news/the-bri...

Five lessons from @davidheniguk.bsky.social as UK seeks closer relationship with the EU… all to be noted. A sixth: trust matters. encompass-europe.com/comment/five...

Nerd heaven indeed

‘Asked about recent proposals to limit a new member country’s ability to use veto powers on sensitive issues such as taxation and foreign policy, Gunnarsdóttir said the idea was “not so exciting” and warned that the EU should “be careful of going this path.”’ www.euractiv.com/news/be-care...

Apparently Brexit campaigners prior to the referendum did start work on how to address the Irish border question Baker: "What we quickly realized, though, is that you can’t solve this problem without really deep expertise in customs and borders... and I'm afraid... www.politico.eu/article/the-...

“benefits under discussion include access to some EU funding programs, preferential trade arrangements, and partial access to the single market before accession, with the exact package to be tailored to each candidate country’s progress” www.politico.eu/article/insi...

"Ireland is... seen as a proper “honest broker”... one of the few member states whose government has never blocked any enlargement steps and doesn't have any bilateral issues with any of the candidate countries... significant progress is therefore expected" www.rferl.org/a/wider-euro...

“Put bluntly, the status quo will not hold. Ten years on, Brexit, and its impacts on the economy, remain very much with us, and the policy debates may be about to return.” And with them, the same hard choices and trade offs if UK wants closer trade relations with EU. www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...

Important therefore that if/when the deal is agreed that it is not oversold. www.politico.eu/article/star...

Still walking people through it today

"Starmer’s decision... has caused political problems... "But the London negotiating team believed that a deal — potentially involving a big cut in fees for EU students at British universities — was taking shape and could have been nodded through by the next [PM]" www.ft.com/content/f0b3...

‘The “Brexit effect” on the rhetoric of British politics is one of the most damaging legacies of the referendum. It has seemingly resulted in a rhetorical culture in which ethos and pathos are of far more value, and so far more prevalent, than logos.’ theconversation.com/ten-years-on...

‘Opinion polls show rejoin sentiment sitting between 55 and 65 per cent, or “within the margin of a campaign”, according to polling guru Sir John Curtice; this has led some analysts to conclude it is still too early, from the EU point of view, to discuss rejoining.’ www.ft.com/content/ac01...

“We think it’s… a test of credibility of the whole enlargement policy… if Montenegro delivers, we expect that this is acknowledged ... We would expect the member states [to] welcome Montenegro into this family of European nations” - Montenegro’s chief negotiator www.irishtimes.com/world/europe...

Out today! A new report of the Society from Catharine Barnard and Joel Reland charing the development of UK regulation post-Brexit. You can read it on our website at: consoc.org.uk/publications...

In a major new @centreeuropeanref.bsky.social study, @johnspringford.bsky.social and @antonspisak.bsky.social find that #Brexit has badly damaged UK-EU trade in both goods and services. Read the paper in full here: buff.ly/5r48H6b

“Of course, we will get moments of difficulty, as you always do in the final parts of the negotiations, but I’m very confident of closing this deal” - Thomas-Symonds www.euronews.com/my-europe/20...

Important second EU-UK summit. Evidence of 'reset' compared to where relations were on 22 July 2022, just four years ago... www.politico.eu/article/eu-u...

Four years ago today the UK Government published the NI Protocol Bill. With it post-Brexit UK-EU relations entered possibly their most strained period. Much has changed with the Windsor Framework (2023), a first EU-UK Summit (2025) etc. But trust in the UK to... www.gov.uk/government/n...

Significant milestone Monday towards the accession of Moldova and Ukraine to the EU. Fundamentals cluster of negotiation chapters to be opened. www.consilium.europa.eu/en/press/pre...

“Some EU member states have expressed doubt about doing a deal with a potentially outgoing [PM]… others argue… talks with Britain would lose momentum if the summit were postponed.” Šefčovič: “the expectation is that we will have the summit, most probably in July.”’ www.ft.com/content/c746...

"Asked if talks were deadlocked on a scheme to allow under-30s to travel freely on a three-year visa scheme for youth, [Šefčovič] said it was one of the top three issues, and one that EU ministers cared deeply about." As close to a 'yes' as we're likely to get? www.theguardian.com/world/2026/j...

“Magyar… also set out conditions, predicting that negotiations would drag on into 2041. Only then… would Hungary put Ukraine’s membership to a legally binding referendum… dependent on Ukraine’s treatment of the Hungarian minority in the Transcarpathia region.” www.euractiv.com/news/hungary...

‘The new idea is to create a set of “building blocks”… to involve Balkan governments more in specific areas of the EU… Closer involvement in the institutions and policy areas would… be “reversible” in case of backsliding on Brussels’ “core values and principles”.’ www.euractiv.com/news/eu-enla...

“If war continues, it cannot be because EU leaders failed to recognise the importance of this moment in offering Ukraine the credible and speedy path to EU membership it needs – and deserves.” - @mijrahman.bsky.social www.theguardian.com/world/commen...

Latest Northern Ireland Scrutiny Committee inquiry launched. Article 2 committees.parliament.uk/committee/76...

“Kyiv and Chisinau applied for EU membership at the same time, meaning that Moldova’s bid can only advance if Ukraine’s does too.” Nonsense. Principle of ‘own merits’ well established www.politico.eu/article/ukra...

“[Foreign Minister] Osmochescu… insisted Moldova’s objective remains signing an EU accession treaty by the end of 2028. Only if that process were to stall would political leaders seriously consider alternatives.” www.euractiv.com/news/moldova...

Article 50(5) TEU: “If a State which has withdrawn from the Union asks to rejoin, its request shall be subject to the procedure referred to in Article 49”. So no special treatment for ex members. 22 states have joined the EC/EU. None received special treatment in terms of substantial opt-outs.

“When we joined the EEA [1994], we joined the new hot thing… the single market… that benign world is gone and we need to be honest about being in a more difficult situation… parts of the EU that we decided not to join are becoming more important” - Norwegian FM www.ft.com/content/5c8a...

“It will also significantly ease the burden on supermarkets and food producers selling to Northern Ireland from Great Britain under the Windsor framework trading arrangements.” Note ‘significantly ease’ not ‘remove’ Important that any deal is not oversold www.theguardian.com/politics/202...

On the UK’s expectations of its anticipated SPS agreement with the EU… www.theguardian.com/politics/202...

‘“there is a right time to accelerate enlargement, the time is right now,” Kos told the FT, adding it was time for EU capitals “to come from words to actions”. She said: “I’m not here in this place to manage the status quo.”’ www.ft.com/content/03be...

“Europe ministers had no appetite for the British proposal of free movement of goods only… the idea was only briefly mentioned at Tuesday’s meeting… “no date announced for a long-expected EU-UK summit, which is tentatively pencilled in for 13 July.” www.theguardian.com/world/2026/m...

“A time-limited ban on veto powers could [first] be written into Montenegro’s accession treaty… “The safeguard is considered to be legally borderline and could only be introduced for a temporary period in order to avoid creating second-class EU members.” www.theguardian.com/world/2026/m...

‘“Let us know when there’s an actual [re-join] policy,” said one EU diplomat. “We’ve got a few too many existential problems on our hands to be dealing with the day-to-day chicanery of UK politics.”’ www.ft.com/content/065b...

‘EU diplomat said EU’s approach was based on its interests: “If you start going back on those principles – leading to a non-member being treated better than an actual member – you certainly would trigger an internal debate on the fundamentals of [EU] cooperation.” www.theguardian.com/politics/202...

“reaction from Brussels is simply a shrug. Let the British play their games. We can talk to them when they’ve actually decided what they want. Albeit what they want might not be on offer, and what is on offer might not be what they want” - @anandmenon.bsky.social www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...

Out today: latest report by @katyhayward.bsky.social and me on the views of voters in Northern Ireland on Brexit, the Windsor Framework and UK-EU Relations. Some key findings 👇 Full report available via @qubelfastofficial.bsky.social at: www.qub.ac.uk/sites/post-b...

Finalising the analysis of our latest 'Testing the Temperature' poll on NI voters' views on Brexit Report will be published tomorrow at www.qub.ac.uk/sites/post-b... And @katyhayward.bsky.social and I will be discussing online over lunchtime👇

As we move closer to an second EU-UK summit (in July?) ... 'officials said they were surprised to see the embattled British leader use a speech Monday to say he will put his country “at the heart of Europe” — when his negotiating position hasn’t changed' www.politico.eu/newsletter/b...

“Montenegro’s EU bid moved a step closer to the finish line on Wednesday as EU officials began working on the accession treaty” www.politico.eu/article/mont...