The agreement between the U.K. and EU to move the Brexit talks to the second phase is “good news” for both Leave and Remain voters, Prime Minister Theresa May said Monday.
May told lawmakers the deal should reassure those who fear that “we were so bogged down in tortuous negotiations” or “we were going to crash out without a deal.”
Last week, British and EU negotiators reached agreement on the status of the Irish border, the rights of citizens affected by Brexit and Britain’s financial settlement when it leaves the EU to launch talks on post-Brexit trade.
“We are going to leave but we are going to do so in a smooth and orderly way, securing a new deep and special partnership with our friends while taking back control of our borders, money and laws once again,” May said.
On the financial settlement, she said the U.K. would “pay our fair share of the outstanding commitments and liabilities to which we committed during our membership.
“However, this is conditional upon a number of principles we have negotiated over how we will ultimately arrive at a fair valuation of these commitments.”
The agreement also “reaffirms our guarantee that there will be no hard border between Northern Ireland and Ireland.”
May said “the whole of the U.K., including Northern Ireland, will leave the EU customs union and the EU single market”.
Britain will no longer be subject to the jurisdiction of the European Court of Justice, she added.
The precise terms of the implementation period will discussed during the next phase of negotiations.
The U.K. is set to end its 44-year membership of the EU in March 2019.
