In Strasbourg on Wednesday 18 September, the European Parliament broadly supported a resolution defending the draft agreement on the United Kingdom's orderly withdrawal from the EU, which it will only approve if it contains the Irish backstop. The Parliament also showed that it was open to a further extension of the Article 50 period, if requested by London, but only under certain conditions, and stressed that a no-deal exit would be the United Kingdom’s responsibility.
The resolution, which was supported by the European Parliament's main political groups (EPP, S&D, Renew Europe, Greens/EFA, GUE/NGL), was approved by 544 votes to 126, with 38 abstentions, and followed a plenary debate with Jean-Claude Juncker, the President of the European Commission, and Michel Barnier, the EU's chief negotiator, in attendance.
President Juncker partly revisited his meeting with British Prime Minister Boris Johnson in Luxembourg on Monday 16 September. It was a meeting that he described as friendly, positive and constructive, “unlike the reports in the press” (an allusion to the chaos surrounding the day in Luxembourg as a whole and to the unsuccessful press conference with Xavier Bettel), but about which he is unable to say “whether any real progress has been made”.
The President of the Commission informed MEPs that he has asked Boris Johnson to provide written proposals regarding the Irish backstop. “Until we receive these proposals, I am unable to tell you that real progress has been made”, said Mr Juncker, stressing that he had “no emotional attachment” to the backstop, but that he was “committed to the purposes it serves".
The Commission is ready to work “from dawn to dusk to find technical and political solutions; I am not sure we will succeed, as there is very little time left, but I am sure we have to try”, added the President, who stressed that the risks of the United Kingdom leaving without a deal "remain very real”.
Michel Barnier said that “our insistence [on the backstop] is completely pragmatic, and not ideological”, but it is “in Ireland that Brexit creates the most problems”. And beyond the Irish issue, there is also the “question of the future relationship, because we will need to create a great partnership with this great country that will remain a friend, ally and neighbour”.
The chief negotiator said, however, that, in addition to the fact that, on 16 September, London again set out the elements of the backstop that it does not like, the British government also expressed its desire to “revisit aspects” of the future relationship that were discussed with Theresa May, particularly those relating to the level playing field.
“We need a set of common rules and the level of ambition in a future free trade agreement will clearly depend on the guarantees we have on paper with regard to social, environmental, competition and state aid matters”, said Michel Barnier.
No future relationship without addressing the key issues
And if there was “no withdrawal agreement”, all the questions “will still exist”, including peace in Ireland, citizens' rights, the budget... Barnier stressed that “these issues will have to be settled before a new partnership agreement is concluded”, assuring Brexiters that the EU had no intention of “stealing Brexit” or preventing anyone from leaving the EU.
The Chamber largely supported the two men, but, unsurprisingly, dissenting voices came from Nigel Farage's Brexit Party and Diane Dodds, a member of the Northern Irish Democratic Unionist Party (DUP). In Nigel Farage’s opinion, the withdrawal agreement, “even without the backstop”, is “very bad” and is tantamount to imprisoning the country in European rules and making the country dependent on the EU.
Diane Dodds mentioned a survey that she claimed indicates that 85% of “Unionists are against the backstop”. There “is a problem with the backstop” that has to be “heard”.
The other political groups believe that the top priority is to obtain concrete proposals from London and avoid a no-deal exit that would be a “disaster” for the EU, but would be even more of one for the United Kingdom, as shown in the Yellowhammer documents, and the “person responsible for the chaos is Boris Johnson”, stated Iratxe Garcia Perez (S&D, Spain). The “socialists have always seen Brexit as a historical error and are ready to support the British people if they change their minds”.
The leader of the EPP group, Germany's Manfred Weber, also believes that if no "way out” is found, “the people will have to be allowed to have their say again”. Meanwhile, the 16 September meeting was another “missed opportunity”, in Manfred Weber’s opinion. He went on to laugh at the British Prime Minister's decision to “close down Westminster: is this what democracy will look like in the future?”, he asked.
For the leader of the EPP group, an extension will in any event only be possible “if there is good reason and a clear commitment to the withdrawal agreement”. And “we will not let our social or environmental standards be put at risk by a future agreement”. To read the resolution, go to: https://bit.ly/2mo7jXf (Original version in French by Solenn Paulic)