European Parliament sets out vision for EU-UK relations post-Brexit
The European Parliament’s political leadership has endorsed a draft resolution for what it believes could a framework for future EU-UK relations after Brexit.
A statement issued yesterday (7 March) on the official European Parliament website said that the relationship “could be based on four pillars: trade and economic relations, foreign policy, internal security and thematic cooperation”.
Click here to view the draft resolution, prepared by the European Parliament’s Brexit Steering Group.
The European Parliament’s President Antonio Tajani commented: “As far as the European Parliament is concerned, the principles governing our future relations are clear: single market integrity must be preserved, a third country cannot be treated more favourably than an EU member state and a level playing field is essential.
“Working from these guidelines, we want to achieve the closest possible relationship between the European Union and United Kingdom. Brexit will not solve shared issues such as terrorism and security, for instance, so close cooperation in many areas will continue to be of mutual interest.
“Brexit negotiations have reached a critical stage, yet essential issues over citizens’ rights remain unresolved and solutions maintaining an invisible border on the island of Ireland are not forthcoming. Any type of border would jeopardise the achievements of the Good Friday Agreement and I insist that this must absolutely be avoided.”
