Who Wrote the Withdrawal Agreement

The Withdrawal Agreement between the United Kingdom and the European Union is a document that outlines the terms of the UK`s exit from the EU. It is a complex and extensive text that was negotiated and drafted over many months leading up to its signing in November 2018. So, who wrote the Withdrawal Agreement?

The short answer is that it was a collaborative effort between the negotiating teams from both the UK and the EU. The UK negotiating team was led by then-Prime Minister Theresa May and included a group of senior government officials, lawyers, and legal advisers. The EU negotiating team was led by Michel Barnier, the Chief Negotiator for the European Commission, and included representatives from the 27 EU member states and various EU institutions.

The Withdrawal Agreement had to satisfy the various demands and objectives of both the UK and the EU, making the drafting process and negotiations extremely complex. The agreement covers issues such as the rights of EU citizens in the UK and UK citizens in the EU, the financial settlement the UK must pay to the EU, and the establishment of a transition period during which the UK will continue to follow EU rules while negotiating a new relationship.

The document itself was drafted by a team of legal experts from both sides. This team was responsible for taking the various agreements and compromises reached during negotiations and putting them into legally binding text. The final version of the Withdrawal Agreement was agreed upon in November 2018, after months of tense negotiations.

It`s worth noting that while the Withdrawal Agreement was a collaborative effort, it was heavily influenced by the UK government`s red lines and the EU`s negotiating objectives. For example, the UK government`s refusal to accept the jurisdiction of the European Court of Justice led to the creation of a separate dispute resolution mechanism. Similarly, the EU`s insistence on the protection of citizens` rights led to the inclusion of a detailed section on this topic in the agreement.

In conclusion, while it`s difficult to pinpoint an individual or group responsible for writing the Withdrawal Agreement, it was a collaborative effort between the negotiating teams from both the UK and the EU. The document reflects the various demands and objectives of both sides and required a significant amount of negotiation and legal expertise to draft.