Post by Enter Nations on Jan 29, 2018 17:03:39 GMT
UK will not be able to block new EU laws during Brexit transition, says Barnier
What Barnier said about how UK has to accept all EU rules, including new ones, during transition
This is what Michel Barnier said at his press conference when asked what the UK would be able to do if it did not like EU decisions taken during the transition. (See 3.54pm.) It was a long-winded way of saying “nothing”, but it is worth quoting in full because it reveals rather well his exasperation at the latest manifestation of British cake-itis (the desire to have one’s cake and eat it, exemplified in this instance by the notion that the UK might be willing to accept EU rules during the transition except the ones it doesn’t like.) Barnier said:
I tend to think very logically, very logically. You’ve probably seen how I’ve been working over the past year and a half. I’ve tried to keep things calm, objective and logical.
So the UK asks us to have this transition period, which is very important obviously for the UK, which gives the time for the administrative preparations it needs before leaving definitively, so that all various players, stakeholders and so on can prepare for this. Time is passing very, very quickly. Obviously we also need time to prepare and we need time to negotiate on our future relations. The UK has asked us for this and our positive response, at this time, is, ‘We say that all of the acquis, the economic status quo, the European policies, will be maintained between 30 March 2019 and 31 December 2020.’ During that period the decisions will apply. And the UK must acknowledge and accept these rules of the game from the outset.
Otherwise we would be moving towards something which we did fear for the future, divergence and a type of single market a la carte, which is not possible, certainly not during transition period, which the UK has requested.
Source: THE GUARDIAN
What Barnier said about how UK has to accept all EU rules, including new ones, during transition
This is what Michel Barnier said at his press conference when asked what the UK would be able to do if it did not like EU decisions taken during the transition. (See 3.54pm.) It was a long-winded way of saying “nothing”, but it is worth quoting in full because it reveals rather well his exasperation at the latest manifestation of British cake-itis (the desire to have one’s cake and eat it, exemplified in this instance by the notion that the UK might be willing to accept EU rules during the transition except the ones it doesn’t like.) Barnier said:
I tend to think very logically, very logically. You’ve probably seen how I’ve been working over the past year and a half. I’ve tried to keep things calm, objective and logical.
So the UK asks us to have this transition period, which is very important obviously for the UK, which gives the time for the administrative preparations it needs before leaving definitively, so that all various players, stakeholders and so on can prepare for this. Time is passing very, very quickly. Obviously we also need time to prepare and we need time to negotiate on our future relations. The UK has asked us for this and our positive response, at this time, is, ‘We say that all of the acquis, the economic status quo, the European policies, will be maintained between 30 March 2019 and 31 December 2020.’ During that period the decisions will apply. And the UK must acknowledge and accept these rules of the game from the outset.
Otherwise we would be moving towards something which we did fear for the future, divergence and a type of single market a la carte, which is not possible, certainly not during transition period, which the UK has requested.
Source: THE GUARDIAN
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