Brexit Update: President Juncker at Brexit European Council

At the European Council on Article 50 today, leaders adopted the EU’s Political Guidelines for the Brexit negotiations. President Juncker welcomed the adoption of the Political Guidelines which reflect the joint work of President Juncker and President Tusk and their teams. He also underlined the Commission’s commitment to defending the interests of the EU27 and building the best possible platform for a unified Europe of 27.

Following the adoption of the Political Guidelines on Brexit – in a record time of less than 15 minutes – by the European Council today, the Commission will later this week propose a detailed Commission Recommendation for the Article 50 negotiating Directives. This will be the legal mandate to start the actual negotiations once the UK is ready after its general election. 

President Juncker also used the opportunity of today’s European Council to deal constructively with a number of important bilateral issues, bringing national leaders together and finding solutions to political and technical issues. In particular, the President successfully concluded the dialogue between Portugal and Spain on the Almaraz nuclear waste landfill, mediated between Slovenia and Croatia concerning checks causing delays at the borders , and – together with Danish Prime Minister, Lars Løkke Rasmussen – sealed the cooperation agreement between Denmark and Europol.

Compliments of the European Commission