Brexit: An agreement at the end

(B2) The 28 European leaders failed to agree on the planned agenda. There was no shortage of difficult subjects. Finally, a little later than expected, the British Prime Minister, David Cameron was able to appear in front of the British cameras, proudly proclaiming: "I have a deal".

A joyful melodrama

The " melodrama begins had warned, not without malice, the Lithuanian President, Dalia Grybauskaite, as soon as the meeting entered Thursday. Everyone knew even before entering the heart of the discussions that David Cameron was not going to win easily, that he could not immediately shout: "I have a deal" (I have an agreement), that it took a show to prove how tough the "battle" had been before being able to call for a "Yes" vote to remain in the European Union. But the meeting took longer than expected.

A very late British breakfast

The British Prime Minister has, in fact, been caught in his own trap. Because all the countries are caught in the game of negotiation. The well-oiled mechanism with a first discussion at the end of the afternoon on Thursday, a demining of the various obstacles in the night, to end in a plenary session to approve a final agreement at breakfast or lunch on Friday was shattered. The "British breakfast" was first transformed into an "English lunch" from 13 p.m. then into a "brunch" from 14 p.m., before a tea time from 30 p.m. to end up being transformed into a nocturnal dinner scheduled not before 16 p.m.

The many journalists who came especially from all the capitals to attend the show, as well as the permanent correspondents, had a blast competing in humor to find it. It's time "to open the pot, bring your toaster and put in some mild cheddar", quips Quentin Ariès, the "French" from the Politico Europe team.

To stretch your legs, we were able to see Angela Merkel, accompanied by her bodyguards, place an order “at Maison Antoine”, one of the famous chip shops in Brussels.

The difficult points were not lacking indeed

The British wanted to have their say on the Euro Zone, of which they are not a part. The founding countries did not want London to have a veto over their decisions. " The United Kingdom must remain in Europe. But Europe must also be able to continue to move forward explained French President François Hollande on France-Inter. Several countries, including France, wanted all banks to be subject to the same rules. London requested an exemption for the City. The UK wanted to be exempted” of the ever closer Union which is the very foundation of the European treaties. A vision that the most integrationist like the Belgians refused. Its Prime Minister, Charles Michel, even demanding the strengthening of a James Bond clause: the entire negotiated agreement will self-destruct if the British finally vote no to the Treaty and choose Brexit.

The delicate question of family allowances

The most delicate point, however, remained the question of the benefit of family allowances for European workers on British territory. The Eastern European countries, in particular Poland and the Czech Republic, stepped up to the plate, refusing the 13-year exception requested by London. But above all, they wanted this provision to be very precisely framed to prevent it from being used by other countries. Much of Thursday night and all day Friday, bilaterals followed one another between European leaders in all formats: French and Germans, Visegrad countries (Eastern Europe), Poles and British, Irish and British, etc. Each is then received individually, usually by the Tusk-Juncker duo, the respective presidents of the European Council and the European Commission. What are called in Brussels confessionals ". Objective: clear each of the blocking points and find a solution acceptable to all.

A legally binding agreement

The complexity of the exercise was that the negotiation did not have purely political aspects. The British leader had demanded a “legally binding” agreement. For each piece of negotiated text, it was therefore necessary to find a legal translation. Which is not easy. Because each of these parts obey very specific rules. The simple question of family allowances is thus included in a regulation, the last modification of which required nearly 10 years of work, in all, to reach an agreement, unanimity being required. And no one wanted to touch, immediately, the actual text of the Treaties, so as not to have to ratify it again.

In the end, everyone came up with their own claim. The Greeks, experienced in long negotiations, have thus threatened to put their veto on the table… if they do not get another issue right: the non-closure of national borders within the Schengen area. The Danes wanted to benefit from certain social advantages obtained by the British. Same for the Irish. etc " The discussion was intense explained a European diplomat.

Because what was at stake in Brussels in recent hours was neither more nor less than the first act of the electoral campaign that the leader of the Tories intends to win, even against part of his own party, which is still Eurosceptic. He therefore had to prove that this agreement was obtained under national conditions and not under European conditions.

(Nicolas Gros-Verheyde)

(*) longer version of an article published in Sud-Ouest on Saturday morning