Strasbourg, 07/06/2016 (Agence Europe) - The referendum on Brexit is not on the agenda of the Strasbourg plenary session - the last before the United Kingdom potentially leaves the EU - but for this very reason, several MEPs amongst those wishing the UK to stay in the EU discussed the matter before the press in Strasbourg on Tuesday 7 June.
“The debate in the UK is avoiding the two major issues - the geopolitical consequences of Brexit and the question of immigration”, said Guy Verhofstadt, President of the ALDE Group. “As far as we are concerned, the three major threats to the Euro-Atlantic partnership are Putin, Trump and Brexit. We need to talk about these three threats”.
“Brexit will mean more immigration to the UK”. Pointing out that the Brexit campaign has used immigration to call for the country to come out of the EU, Verhofstadt said that the immigration problem would be greater than ever after Brexit. “Under the Le Touquet agreement of February 2003 between France, Ireland and the United Kingdom, immigration is managed in France. In the event of Brexit, the agreement would no longer apply. Migrants waiting at the French border will cross the English Channel”, he said. Furthermore, 1.2 million British citizens living in the EU will need visas. This will be a huge administrative burden for them, he pointed out.
Manfred Weber, President of the EPP, also said that the Brexit was not tackling the “major issues”, and he described TTIP and the major economic issues as conspicuous by their absence from the debate. “We are prepared to work with the United Kingdom. We will defend the agreements and treaties and respect British particularities. Coming out would have consequences”, he added. When asked about the place of the British MEPs at the July plenary session, the leader of the EPP said that there was still no answer to this question. “The Treaty does not have much to say about this point. The United Kingdom must understand that leaving the EU would represent a loss of influence. The damage would be greater to it than it would be to the EU”, he said.
Speaking on behalf of his group, Yannick Jadot (Greens/EFA, France) reiterated that “the Greens are against Brexit”, for the simple reason that “a state leaving, like à la carte negotiation, leads to the dislocation of Europe”. It would open the door for other countries, such as Poland or others, to do the same.
“We need a eurozone parliament. If Great Britain leaves the EU, they should pay the maximum cost”, he said. He went on to regret the fact that “on the essential issues, the rule of law, common disciplines, the EU is failing. It's madness”. When asked how he would imagine a plenary session with his British colleagues after the referendum, Jadot replied: “if the UK leaves the EU, it can no longer have the advantages. If it continues to meet its responsibilities, in terms of budgetary contribution, there has to be budgetary control, and so the British MEPs would have to stay”.
In response to the same question, Gianni Pittella, the leader of the S&D Group, opted for optimism: “I hope that we will be opening the champagne for BREXIN. We want the UK to stay, for the benefit of the EU and the UK. The best life for the British is the EU, in my opinion”. (Original version in French by Aminata Niang)