Political Declaration setting out the framework for the future relationship between the European Union and the United Kingdom

4.
 
The future relationship will be based on a balance of rights and obligations, taking into 
account the principles of each Party. This balance must ensure the autonomy of the Union's 
decision making and be consistent with the Union's principles, in particular with respect to 
the integrity of the Single Market and the Customs Union and the indivisibility of the four 
freedoms. It must also ensure the sovereignty of the United Kingdom and the protection of 
its internal market, while respecting the result of the 2016 referendum including with regard 
to the development of its independent trade policy and the ending of free movement of 
people between the Union and the United Kingdom. 
5.
 
The period of the United Kingdom's membership of the Union has resulted in a high level of 
integration between the Union's and the United Kingdom's economies, and an interwoven 
past and future of the Union's and the United Kingdom's people and priorities. The future 
relationship will inevitably need to take account of this unique context. While it cannot 

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3 
amount to the rights or obligations of membership, the Parties are agreed that the future 
relationship should be approached with high ambition with regard to its scope and depth, 
and recognise that this might evolve over time. Above all, it should be a relationship that 
will work in the interests of citizens of the Union and the United Kingdom, now and in the 
future.
 
 

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4 
PART
 
I:
 
INITIAL
 
PROVISIONS
 
 
I.
 
B
ASIS FOR COOPERATION