Michel Barnier rules out British 'cherry-picking' on Brexit
Reuters|
Feb 27, 2018, 11.34 PM IST
BRUSSELS: The European Union’s chief Brexit negotiator Michel Barnier firmly ruled out on Tuesday Britain “cherry-picking” the aspects of the EU it liked when it leaves the bloc.
European Council President Donald Tusk on Friday dismissed as “pure illusion” the ideas floated by Britain so far on what sort of future relationship it wanted with the European Union. Asked if he agreed with Tusk, notably regarding British ideas for a three pronged deal in which Britain would stick to the bloc’s rules after Brexit in some areas, diverge moderately in others and go its own way for the rest, Barnier replied: “yes”.
“We can’t possible imagine a situation in which we would accept cherry-picking. We are responsible for guaranteeing the integrity of the single market,” he told a news conference after a meeting of EU ministers to discuss Brexit. “The UK knows what the rules are that underpin that integrity because they’ve been helping us put them together for the last 40 years.”
Barnier’s remarks raise the prospect of the deal missing its crucial end-March deadline. The U.K. wants the transition to be agreed by then to give certainty to business about the type of regime they’ll be operating under when the country leaves the bloc a year later. The EU says the period should last until the end of 2020, but the U.K. has suggested it should be longer.
European Council President Donald Tusk on Friday dismissed as “pure illusion” the ideas floated by Britain so far on what sort of future relationship it wanted with the European Union. Asked if he agreed with Tusk, notably regarding British ideas for a three pronged deal in which Britain would stick to the bloc’s rules after Brexit in some areas, diverge moderately in others and go its own way for the rest, Barnier replied: “yes”.
“We can’t possible imagine a situation in which we would accept cherry-picking. We are responsible for guaranteeing the integrity of the single market,” he told a news conference after a meeting of EU ministers to discuss Brexit. “The UK knows what the rules are that underpin that integrity because they’ve been helping us put them together for the last 40 years.”
Barnier’s remarks raise the prospect of the deal missing its crucial end-March deadline. The U.K. wants the transition to be agreed by then to give certainty to business about the type of regime they’ll be operating under when the country leaves the bloc a year later. The EU says the period should last until the end of 2020, but the U.K. has suggested it should be longer.
