The negotiator of the European Parliament on the withdrawal of the United Kingdom from the European Union, Belgium's Guy Verhofstadt (ALDE), said on Tuesday 22 November that the negotiations with London would have to be wrapped up before the European elections of 2019, leaving a "negotiation window of 14 or 15 months, more or less".
Verhofstadt said this after his meeting in Brussels with the British minister for Brexit, David Davis, who has started a series of visits to meet European leaders also responsible for this issue. Following a meeting with the negotiator-in-chief of the European Commission, Michel Barnier, on Monday, he held talks with Verhofstadt in Strasbourg the next day.
Verhofstadt took pains to warn his British colleague that at the moment, there is a window of just 15 months to conclude these withdrawal negotiations, yet the country has still not even formally notified its intention of leaving the EU. The Belgian official also told Davis that the European institutions would not agree to the UK keeping hold of its access to the single market if it also wishes to limit the principle of the freedom of movement.
"We agreed on many things, on the need to start the process as soon as possible and on the need to conclude it in any event ahead of the European elections" scheduled for May 2019, Verhofstadt explained after his meeting with Davis, AFP reports. This means that the negotiation window will be roughly 14 or 15 months. It will therefore, he added, be an extremely intense period. He went on to say that it will take several months, starting at the end of 2018, for the European Parliament to give its approval to the definitive agreement on Brexit.
The leader of the EPP group at the EP, Manfred Weber of Germany, also held a meeting with Davis. I didn't hear anything new, he told a press conference. As far as we are concerned, he said, the matter is clear: the four fundamental freedoms are not negotiable. He added that he anticipated a clear position on the part of UK.
On Monday morning, Barnier and Davis met in the framework of a courtesy meeting by request of the latter, Barnier announced on his Twitter feed, as no official negotiations may begin until the country has triggered article 50 of the Treaty. This visit will not be used to open the negotiations, we just wanted to prepare the ground ahead of a constructive dialogue and a calm and ordered exit in the interests of all concerned, the British minister told AFP.
The Scottish Minister for Brexit, Michael Russell, who was also in Brussels on Monday, said that he would ask the EU and the UK for specific conditions for Scotland. If these are not forthcoming, the Scots will probably vote for independence, he said. (Original version in French by Solenn Paulic)