During the plenary session (14-18/12) of the European Parliament, mainly in Brussels, MEPs debate the future relations between the European Union and the United Kindgom. Extracts from the debate.

Future relations between the EU and the UK: extracts from the debate

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Atmosphere in the chamber before the beginning of the debate and arrival of Michel BARNIER, Head of Task Force for Relations with the United Kingdom

SOUNDBITE (English), Maros SEFCOVIC, Vice-President of the EC in charge of Interinstitutional relations and Foresight, And today, I am therefore pleased to confirm that we have officially endorsed the necessary formal decisions and practical solutions for the timely implementation of the withdrawal agreement and that of its protocol on Ireland and Northern Ireland by the end of the transition period in relations to the protocol implementation. This means that we have delivered on our overarching objective to protect the Good Friday - Belfast Agreement, avoid a hard border on the island of Ireland and thereby contribute to maintain peace, stability and prosperity on the island.

SOUNDBITE (French), Michel BARNIER, Head of Task Force for Relations with the United Kingdom, It is the Brits who decided on a very short deadline within which we are now constrained. In June, they refused any form of extension of the transition which was possible, which was on the table. We agree to that. But they established the date of the 31st of December as that moment of truth.

SOUNDBITE (French), Michel BARNIER, Head of Task Force for Relations with the United Kingdom, We want open and ambitious trade and economic cooperation, but it must be fair, free and fair. It must be based on what is called a level playing field. I prefer to say fair competition. i.e. fair competition rules and high standards in terms of social standards, environment, climate.

SOUNDBITE (French), Michel BARNIER, Head of Task Force for Relations with the United Kingdom, And if the sovereign United Kingdom wishes to diverge in the future, it is its right. But this can not be without consequences. 

SOUNDBITE (French), Michel BARNIER, Head of Task Force for Relations with the United Kingdom, And the UK would like to regain its sovereignty over fisheries, to be able to control access to its waters and as I've said on many occasions, and I'll reiterate that here, we can accept that and we respect that. But if following at any given time, then the European Union also has to maintain its sovereign right to react or to compensate by adjusting the conditions for products and especially fisheries products to the single market and in particular for fishery products. And this is where one of the major difficulties of negotiating this fisheries issue, which is part of the new economic partnership package.

SOUNDBITE (French), Michel BARNIER, Head of Task Force for Relations with the United Kingdom, I Think I've always been frank with you and open and sincere. I cannot say what will come out during this last days of the negotiations. We have to be prepared for all eventualities and obviously there'll be a number of text put to this House to be voted on in terms of contingency measures to be prepared in the case of no deal.

SOUNDBITE (English), David McALLISTER (EPP, DE), Yesterday, the Conference of Presidents has emphasised that we as European Parliament stand ready to organise an extraordinary plenary session towards the end of December in case an agreement is finalised by midnight on this Sunday. We stand ready to debate the outcome of the negotiations intensively as soon as possible and we stand ready to thoroughly scrutinise the final text. But colleagues, one thing has to be very clear. This would be a unique scenario and cannot and will not serve as a precedent for future agreements.

SOUNDBITE (Spanish), Iratxe GARC&#205;A P&#201;REZ (S&amp;D, ES), Our contingency plans have to be used to send a clear signal to London that the commission, the 27 member states and this parliament will stand together until the very end. We are aware that it would be extremely serious for both economies if there was not to be an agreement at this time of pandemic, but it would be the UK that would suffer more if there was not a deal.

SOUNDBITE (French), Nicolas BAY (ID, FR), Finally, which may cost us very expensive in the coming days, it was the refusal to deal with the most delicate and contentious issues such as fair competition rules, for example. We want to, we ask the UK to comply with European standards, including the decisions of the Court of Justice, even though this is precisely one of the reasons and reasons why they left the European Union.

SOUNDBITE (French), Nicolas BAY (ID, FR), Another problem is a fisheries, a fundamental problem. And let's hope that the interests of the Netherlands, Denmark and France are not sacrificed because Berlin doesn't see an interest or a key issue.

SOUNDBITE (French), Philippe LAMBERTS (Greens/EFA, BE), How do you think that at such a large and unprecedentedly important agreement can be looked at in just a couple of days when we haven't even seen the first paragraph yet, regardless of how much trust and confidence we have in our negotiators? What we're talking about here is respect for procedures, respect for our legislative authority, checks and balances which are required in any democracy.

SOUNDBITE (English), Guy VERHOFSTADT (RE, BE), Let's take a unilateral measure towards the students in Britain that they can continue unilaterally to make use of Erasmus. It's a pro-European generation, this young generation, and it's this generation. We will bring back the UK inside the European family in the next decade.

Future relations between the EU and the UK: extracts from the debate

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