Britain should be able to negotiate Brexit at the same time as a new free trade deal, according to the EU Parliament’s chief negotiator
Guy Verhofstadt’s believes that the UK can make “arrangements for its withdrawal” at the same time as “taking account of the framework for its future relationship”
BRITAIN should be able to negotiate our EU divorce terms at the same time as a new free trade deal, according to the EU Parliament’s chief negotiator.
Guy Verhofstadt’s belief that the UK can make “arrangements for its withdrawal” at the same time as “taking account of the framework for its future relationship” puts him at odds with more hardline EU colleagues.
European Commission chief negotiator Michel Barnier has previously claimed that the exit deal must be reached before any trade talks can begin.
And just last week an EU spokesman insisted that “if one wants to divorce but to remain friends on the basis of a new relationship, first one needs to agree on the terms of the orderly separation”.
But Mr Verhofstad used a talk at the Chatham House think tank in London on Monday to claim theArticle 50 process states “we are saying a withdrawal can be agreed taking into consideration the future relationship.
“So you see it is a fantastic political text and it says it all — a withdrawal agreement in the light of the future relationship.
“That is literally in the treaty and that is what we need to apply.”
Mr Verhofstad also claimed that the EU must be “open and generous” to Brits living in the EU after Brexit.
He claimed the EU team are “scrutinising, thinking, debating” how UK citizens “links with Europe” can be preserved.
RELATED STORIES
His hint came after Theresa May claimed last week she was seeking an “early deal” to protect the rights of EU citizens living in the UK and vica versa.
Branding Brexit the “wrong decision” and a “disaster”, the ex-Belgian PM also argued that Britain’s exit could be turned into a “golden opportunity” to forge closer ties.
He said the remaining 27 countries must “get our act together inside the EU”.
But he said that the EU faced three major threats from Donald Trump, Russian aggression and Islamist terrorism.
Promoting his new book, he said: “Trump spoke very favourably of the fact that also other countries will want to break away from the European Union and that he hoped for a disintegration of the European Union.”
Ahead of French and Dutch elections this year in which far-right parties are expected to surge, Mr Verhofstad accused the US President and his allies of trying to undermine the EU by stirring up further referendums like Brexit.
He pointed to the ”enormous influence” Trump aide Steve Bannon who has called for further referendums, adding: “Every European that I met in US had only one conclusion, which is that EU has fewer friends than ever in USA today.”
And claiming that he gets ten letters every day from Brits wanting to stay in the EU, Mr Verhofstad said: “We need also to be open and generous to the individual UK citizens.
“I can tell you I receive every day tens of letters ... millions of citizens who are saying ‘don’t leave us alone.
“We are scrutinising, thinking, debating how we could achieve that.
“That individual UK citizens would think their links with Europe are not broken.”
