On Wednesday 17 May during a debate at the most recent European Council on 29 April on the subject of Brexit, a large number of MEPs highlighted the need to draw the lessons from United Kingdom leaving the EU and to provide a new boost for the European project. The President of the European Commission, Jean-Claude Juncker, also underlined the need to focus on the EU’s positive agenda and not just on the negotiations with London over the next two years.
The head of the EPP group, Manfred Weber, from Germany explained that, “many citizens expect us to talk about the advantages of a united Union” after Brexit. Similarly to Mr Junker, the Belgian liberal, Guy Verhofstadt, the European Parliament’s coordinator on Brexit, also said that, “it would be a mistake to put all our energy into Brexit. The same energy must be given to reforming the EU”. The latter was enthusiastic about the results of the French election, which he said was another example of good news against the populists, mirroring the Austrian and Dutch elections and in this regard, he emphasised the desire of young French people for greater boldness to be shown. and called on the EU to show this same boldness.
On a more pessimistic note, the ECR group so that they needed to look at the reasons why the British think that they will be better off outside the EU than in. The group said that people want concrete answers and explained that it was also ready to support changes to the treaties. The Eurosceptic group warned, however, that the choice should not be one of centralisation and an EU with ever increasing powers.
The GUE/NGL did not share the optimism of Guy Verhofstadt either. Gabriele Zimmer from Germany said that there were certainly lessons to be drawn from Brexit and that citizens expected political leaders to say what kind of Europe they wanted to build. For the GUE/NGL, a coordinated social system is needed, for example. The group also said that they should not be over-euphoric and think that after the election results in France and Austria, “populism is a thing of the past”.
With regard to Brexit and to the negotiating guidelines adopted on 29 April by the EU 27, many MEPs expressed their delight with the speed of the process and the unity of the member states on the subject. The President of the European Council, Donald Tusk, came to discuss Brexit with the MEPs and pointed out that the essential elements in the guidelines adopted on 29 April are based on a stages approach and that no negotiations on the future framework of relations will take place without progress being made on the first aspects of the divorce (citizens’ rights, financial regulation and the Irish border).
The European Council shares the wishes of the United Kingdom to build a close relationship but it is clear that the country will not have the same advantages as the countries in EU. Poland highlighted the fact that, “when the United Kingdom has left the Union, any free trade agreement between the EU and former, must include guarantees on dumping practices, particularly in the tax domain”.
Also, addressing the MEPs, the EU’s negotiator, Michel Barnier, repeated the future negotiating objectives. In a confrontation with Nigel Farage, who accused the EU of demanding a “ransom” from the United Kingdom, Mr Barnier pointed out that it still did not have any figures but that, “we will work with the European Council and calmly find an agreement with United Kingdom on the commitments made”. (Original version in French by Solenn Paulic)