Leaders of EU member states to discuss Brexit in Brussels
Another document up for approval is a political declaration that specifies future relations between Brussels and London. De-facto, it sets goals for the next stage of negotiations that would begin after the United Kingdom quits the European Union on the night of March 29. This transitional period is expected to last until January 1, 2021, TASS reports.
The summit will begin with a meeting of state leaders from the 27 EU members and senior EU officials without the United Kingdom. The participants are to approve draft documents on Brexit. After that, a short meeting will be held with UK Prime Minister Theresa May, who will be informed about the outcome of the discussion.
However, the fate of the Brexit deal will remain uncertain even if the summit resolves to support it. It is yet to gain the approval of the European Parliament, EU national legislatures and the parliament of the United Kingdom. The last objective seems particularly difficult to achieve, because many parliament members criticized the deal for being unfavorable and even inadmissible for their country. The rejection of the agreement may entail unpredictable consequences that range from the resignation of May's government up to UK withdrawal from EU without any deal at all.
The upcoming talks in Brussels are expected to be over by noon Sunday (14:00 Moscow time). They were almost thwarted on Saturday as Spain put forward its own demands regarding Gibraltar at the very last moment.
Disagreements over Gibraltar
Madrid has threatened to veto the deal because its opinion on Gibraltar, overseas territory of the United Kingdom, disputed by Spain, was ignored. This longstanding problem in the UK-Spanish relations was mitigated in past years as both nations were members of the European Union. However, if the United Kingdom, together with all of its territories, leaves the EU, residents of those territories may lose access to European markets and, probably, the possibility of free movement within the EU.
Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez said on Friday that he might skip the EU summit if his country's demands and objections were ignored. However, after rounds of consultations on various levels, he announced on Saturday that his country would withdraw its veto from the Brexit deal after reaching an agreement on the issue of Gibraltar.
"Europe and the United Kingdom have agreed to the requirements set by Spain, therefore, as a result, Spain will lift the veto and vote tomorrow (on Sunday, at an emergency EU summit - TASS) for the [agreement on] Brexit," he said, describing Gibraltar as "a key issue for Spain."
Sanchez is expected to hold a separate meeting with May during the summit.
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