Congress Input to Phase 2 EU Exit Negotiations

Conference believes that countering the potential negative impacts that exiting the EU will have on our members, their families, communities and the wider peace process must remain a key objective.

Conference notes that ICTU has campaigned since the result of the EU Referendum in June 2016 to protect workers North and South, including direct ongoing engagement with all parties involved in the negotiations, holding conferences and seminars, and raising key issues within the media. This campaigning has also included producing two papers analysing the key issues and outlining the policy priorities which Congress wishes to see pursued. Conference acknowledges and welcomes the work that has been undertaken thus far.

Conference notes that in December 2017 it was agreed between the UK and EU that ‘sufficient progress’ had been made on the three issues required (citizens’ rights, the financial settlement and the unique circumstances of Northern Ireland) in phase 1 of the negotiations. Phase 2 of the negotiations has now begun and Conference believes it is vital in defending the interests of our members that Congress continues to actively influence their course.

Conference believes that the provisions of the phase 1 agreement in relation to Northern Ireland appear at times to be contradictory and leave open a number of differing possible interpretations, with potentially serious consequences for our members. Conference is concerned that the phase 1 agreement appears to have been an act of deliberate ambiguity, aimed at moving negotiations on, and delaying any substantive resolution. Conference believes that the phase 1 agreement has not resolved the key issues identified previously by Congress and that this must remain a key issue to be resolved within phase 2 of the negotiations.

Conference therefore calls on ICTU to:

• undertake a full analysis of the phase 1 agreement against the policy priorities outlined previously;
• produce an updated policy position paper which outlines the key issues that must be resolved for all our members across the island of Ireland within phase 2.
• Use these documents to form the basis for renewed campaigning by ICTU, including direct engagement with all parties involved in the negotiations, in order to ensure that workers North and South do not pay the price of exit;
• Gain support from the trade union movement across the UK (TUC, STUC, Wales TUC) and ETUC for these updated positions.