The president of the European Parliament, Martin Schulz, set off on a two-day visit to London on Thursday 22 September, for his first-ever meetings with the British prime minister, Theresa May, the leader of the opposition, Jeremy Corbyn, and the mayor of London, Sadiq Khan.
Schulz intends to remind the British leaders that the four freedoms of the single market carry equal weight and that the European Parliament is in favour of triggering Article 50 of the Treaty, which will allow negotiations on the United Kingdom leaving the European Union to begin, "as soon as possible", according to an EP press release.
In September, the Parliament elected Guy Verhofstadt (ALDE, Belgium) as negotiator on Brexit. This selection, which was approved by the conference of the presidents of the groups at the Parliament on 8 September, was challenged by British Conservatives such as Syed Kamall, leader of the ECR Group.
On the sidelines of the informal summit of the EU27 on the future of the EU, held in Bratislava on 16 September, Schulz said that Verhofstadt was a man prepared to defend his position. This position consists of a determination to uphold the four freedoms of the single market as a fundamental principle of the Union. It will be impossible to achieve a majority at the European Parliament in favour of an agreement that does not respect this principle and ranks the freedom of movement of people below the freedom of movement of capital and goods, he argued. (Original version in French by Solenn Paulic)