“I think what we really need is for this Parliament to recognise it has made a mistake and find someone who actually likes the United Kingdom to lead these talks”. “The EU and the Commissioners may be considering alternatives – they will be considering their negotiations with us, just as we are considering it with them”, Ms. Rudd declared.
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Britain should trigger its divorce from the EU as soon as possible and formally leave by 2019, the European Parliament’s chief Brexit negotiator Guy Verhofstadt said on Tuesday.
Verhofstadt, a former Belgian prime minister and leading supporter of closer European Union integration, was appointed by party leaders last week to represent the parliament in negotiations on Brexit.
“I frankly think this announcement amounts to a declaration of war on any sensible negotiating process”.
Australian counterpart Julie Bishop said that Brexit opened “many opportunities to develop an even closer relationship”, but her trade minster warned earlier this week that formal negotiations on a deal must wait until Brexit is concluded, which could take years.
It seems that the summer was probably counterproductive as Theresa May and the British government need more time to form some basic guidelines to be able to negotiate effectively with the EU. We consider that either would be a constitutionally acceptable means of securing parliamentary approval for the triggering of Article 50.
Parliament should therefore act on the assumption that the Article is “irreversible” and should allow it to be invoked only when it is in the UK’s best interests to begin negotiations, said the report.
In a speech to the European Parliament Wednesday, European Commission President Juncker said “the free movement of workers is as much a common European value as our fight against discrimination and racism”.
Responding to Jean-Claude Juncker’s address to MEPs, Mr Farage lamented what he called “more of the same” and “more Europe not less Europe”.
He said: “This is yet another example of the drift and confusion as a result of the Government’s failure to plan for Brexit”.
Later this year the courts may rule on whether it is a legal requirement that legislation must be passed before the government can trigger Article 50.
“It’s a multi year process if it’s going to be completed safely and not going to risk financial stability”, Alex Wilmot-Sitwell, president of Bank of America Merrill Lynch told a House of Lords committee.
The appointment puts Paris and Berlin, the two most powerful remaining European Union governments, at the heart of talks likely to hinge on trade and the future of the City of London, Britain’s financial centre.
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In parliament on Wednesday, May said that the government is working for “the right deal” on trade relations with the European Union, without giving further details.
