The Council adopted, by written procedure, the decision on the conclusion of the agreement on behalf of the EU. The Northern Ireland Protocol, known as the Irish Backstop, was an annex to the November 2018 draft agreement outlining provisions to avoid a hard border in Ireland after the UK`s withdrawal from the European Union. The protocol provided for a provision of the safety net to deal with the circumstances in which satisfactory alternative arrangements were to come into force at the end of the transition period. This project has been replaced by a new protocol that will be described as follows. The draft withdrawal agreement reflects the December 2017 joint report by EU and UK government negotiators on the first phase of legal negotiations. It also proposes, on the basis of the EU`s positions, a text on other withdrawal issues mentioned in the joint report, which are not yet agreed upon. Finally, the text on the transitional period will be integrated on the basis of the supplementary negotiating directives (Article 50) adopted by the Council on 29 January 2018 (Article 50). The withdrawal agreement negotiated between the EU and the UK and concluded on 14 November 2018 will be discussed in detail in this briefing. It was approved by the heads of state and government of EU Member States at an extraordinary European Council on 25 November, and the British Prime Minister did so in the British Parliament and across the country. The agreement has been the subject of in-depth discussions in Parliament on several occasions and has been adopted three times.

But the House of Commons did not accept it. A second extension of Article 50 lasted until 31 October 2019, but once again the UK faces the possibility of leaving the EU without a deal if the agreement or any other agreement is not ratified by the UK and the EU. EU-27 heads of state and government discussed Brexit and the preparation of negotiations on future EU-UK relations after the withdrawal. They reaffirmed their objective of establishing as close a relationship as possible with the United Kingdom in the future and welcomed the Commission`s decision to reinstate Michel Barnier. But it gives the government the power to change aspects of the EU withdrawal agreement, a legally binding agreement that regulates the terms of the UK`s exit from the EU earlier this year.