Debate on the preparation of the European Council meeting of 20 and 21 October 2016&nbsp;during the EP Plenary session (03-06/10) in Strasbourg. Statements&nbsp;on Brexit&nbsp;by Manfred WEBER (EPP, DE), Giovanni PITTELLA (S&amp;D, IT), Syed KAMALL (ECR, UK), and Guy VERHOFSTADT (ALDE, BE).

Preparation of the European Council meeting of 20 and 21 October 2016: extracts from the debate on Brexit

SOUNDBITE (German), Manfred WEBER (EPP, DE), On Brexit, Theresa May will be there (at the Council) for the first time. We as EU made a significant offer to David Cameron which was turned down. Now we need clarity because the Tory party conference announced that things will move by the end of March, next year. Well that&rsquo;s good, we need clarity ourselves as well. The EPP is quite clear that the 4 freedoms of Europe are not up for discussion.

SOUNDBITE (German), Manfred WEBER (EPP, DE), The UK is no longer nr 2 on the league table of the leaders of the EU, is not even nr 3, it has been downgraded.

SOUNDBITE (Italian), Giovanni PITTELLA (S&amp;D, IT), The British&rsquo;s Prime Minister, Mrs May announced that the notification of Art 50 will possibly come in March, before that was supposed to be in September, then in December, and now possibly in January, and then possibly in March. Always possible, always perhaps. In the meantime, the most serious thing is to treat the announcement that the UK will unilaterally reject all law derived from community legislation, which is making a dreadful situation for the EU citizens living in the UK.

SOUNDBITE (English), Syed KAMALL (ECR, UK), Actually what they have decided to do was to transpose - in simple terms - the legislation to make it stable in UK law. When the UK leaves the EU, then you can actually start unpinning the law that being transferred from the EU into UK. So actually I would ask you to be factually correct in these debates, especially if we are going to have an atmosphere of good cooperation to get a deal that is good for the EU and the UK at the end.

SOUNDBITE (English), Guy VERHOFSTADT (ALDE, BE), The third priority for the European Council is dealing with the UK decision to leave the Union. I think it is impossible that you said nothing about it. I think that you have to respond to the announcement of Prime Minister May. In my opinion you have to say a few simple things, very short: First : no pre-negotiations. We can only start negotiations after the triggering of the Art 50. Secondly negotiations need to be finished before the next European elections. I can&rsquo;t imagine that Mr Farage is coming back to this Hemicycle ! and three: the new EU relationship with the UK needs to be a close one, not only in our interest, but also in the interest I will say of the 48% of British citizens that have voted for remain, that we don't forget.

Preparation of the European Council meeting of 20 and 21 October 2016: extracts from the debate on Brexit

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