Negotiating rounds

Through negotiating rounds, the EU and the UK outlined their ambitions for a future partnership, from political declaration to terms of reference.


In November 2019, the EU and the UK adopted the Political Declaration outlining their ambitions for a future partnership. On the 25 February 2020, the European Council outlined the Negotiating Directives for the European Commission’s mandate to negotiate on the future partnership. On 27 February, the UK Government published its approach to the negotiations in the document Our approach to the Future Relationship with the EU.

On 28 February, both negotiating parties adopted terms of reference on the UK-EU future relationship negotiations that outlined a timetable for negotiating Rounds and Negotiating Groups along 11 themes. In June 2020 and in July 2020, the negotiating parties adopted a first and second addendum reflecting the changes in the timetable to the negotiating rounds.

Rounds of Negotiations: General Themes

General themes

Rounds of Negotiations: Detailed themes

detailed rounds