The resolution, which runs to 35 pages and has been seen by this website, backs the EU's current negotiating stance. It calls for a "comprehensive agreement" with the UK and a "piecemeal" deal. The UK, it states, must comply with the so-called "level playing field" demands of the EU.
Members of the trade and foreign affairs committees will vote on the resolution’s recommendations for the negotiations on the future UK-EU partnership.
Parliament has the right to sign off on any deal reached by the two sides. Numerous changes were made to the final text to include the opinions of no less than 17 different European Parliament committees. Scores of amendments and compromise amendments were made.
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Plenary is due to hold its debate on the resolution next Wednesday with the results on the vote on the text expected the day after.
But, speaking to this website ahead of Friday’s vote, members of parliament’s influential UK Coordination Group (UKCG) were divided on the usefulness of the resolution.
Dutch ECR MEP Derk Jan Eppink, his party’s representative member of the UKCG, is critical of the resolution, saying the draft was “too pedantic.”
“I am fully confident that next week in plenary, this house will make it absolutely clear that the EU stands united, that we want ambitious and comprehensive future partnership, that there are clear red lines and conditions and that Michel Barnier, our chief negotiator, has our full and firm support in his mandate” Kati Piri MEP
Eppink said, “It sounds like the parliament is lecturing and grandstanding for its own sake rather than trying to identify common ground.
“The draft resolution, basically, merely seems to prop up the position of Michel Barnier, the chief EU negotiator.”
But another UKCG member, Dutch Socialist Kati Piri, told this site that the report was important as it “serves as parliament's position” on the negotiations ahead of a high level conference and summit on Brexit, both later this month.
She said the resolution will send a “clear political message” to both sides.
Piri, speaking late on Thursday, said, “The role of the European Parliament and its participation in the process on the future partnership are of crucial importance. As the European Parliament, we will be called to give our consent to any future deal and we are fully engaged in the negotiations in line with our prerogatives.”
She added, “With the UK Coordination Group, two lead committees and 17 opinion-giving committees, we have developed an unprecedented procedure that reflects how serious we are about our role as Parliament.
“We will vote on a strong text with a clear political message on the negotiations and on the way forward, addressing all areas of the Withdrawal Agreement, the Political Declaration and the EU negotiating mandate.
"And I am fully confident that next week in plenary, this house will make it absolutely clear that the EU stands united, that we want ambitious and comprehensive future partnership, that there are clear red lines and conditions and that Michel Barnier, our chief negotiator, has our full and firm support in his mandate.”
Her comments are echoed by French RE member Nathalie Loiseau who, also speaking to The Parliament Magazine on Thursday, said, “It is important that at a crucial moment when the EU and the UK have to take stock of progress being made in the negotiation and decide the way forward, the parliament expresses its views and its priorities.
“We respect the choice made by the UK to leave the EU. We expect the UK to respect our choices as well” Nathalie Loiseau MEP
“I expect a large majority in favour of the draft resolution, which is a signal of unity of the EU and of support for Michel Barnier.”
She added, “We are ready for a strong partnership with the UK, in line with the political declaration which was negotiated with Boris Johnson and signed by both the EU and the UK.
"This partnership must protect the interests of the Europeans and the choices we believe in: high standards for the protection of the environment, of workers, of data, of the rights of EU citizens living in the UK and the preservation of the historical rights of European fishermen. We respect the choice made by the UK to leave the EU.”
She said, “We expect the UK to respect our choices as well.”
EPP Polish member Danuta Hübner told this website, “I do not expect any major problems with the two committees approving the opinion and with a large majority. Negotiating and preparing this parliamentary resolution among the committees and political families has needed solidarity among political groups.
“In this resolution we continue to seek the best solution with a comprehensive deal and not in a ‘sliced-silos’ type of agreement.”
Later on Friday, Commission vice president Maroš Šefčovič and Barnier will take part in the second meeting of the EU-UK Joint Committee established by the Withdrawal Agreement with Michael Gove.