During the plenary session (26-29 April 2021) in the European Parliament in Brussels, MEPs debate on EU-United Kingdom (UK) Trade and Cooperation Agreement: Opening statements by Andreas SCHIEDER (S&D, AT) and by Christophe HANSEN (EPP, LU), co-rapporteurs. This transcription speech is the result of an automatic process. Check against delivery.

Brussels

Brexit (T)

statement

EU - United Kingdom (T)

plenary session

joint debate

HANSEN, Christophe (EPP, LU)

SCHIEDER, Andreas (S&D, AT)

Joint debate on EU-UK Trade and Cooperation Agreement: Opening statements by Andreas SCHIEDER (S&D, AT) and by Christophe HANSEN (EPP, LU), co-rapporteurs

SOUNDBITE (Original), Andreas SCHIEDER (S&amp;D, AT), Thank you, Mr. President, Madam President, ladies and gentlemen. Brexit is a serious mistake and it is the weakest in society who will suffer from this mistake. It's not the millionaires who pumped money into the Brexit campaign. But we have to recognise the decision after all these years, and that is why today is the day for us to look forward. The EU-UK Trade and Cooperation Agreement is the best option on the table, this post Brexit agreement is the best way to soften the blow for working people and businesses.

SOUNDBITE (Original), Andreas SCHIEDER (S&D, AT), It's not an end. It's a beginning. It is a basis for a future just relationship, which is not possible without clear rules. This has been a mistake, but we must recognise and respect this error that has been committed and we must pursue damage limitation. The EU wanted a closer relationship, but it wasn't possible. The UK government and the Tories just wanted Brexit at any cost.

SOUNDBITE (Original), Andreas SCHIEDER (S&D, AT), Nobody knew what that meant, and frankly, even the present UK government doesn't really know what they meant and what they want. I'd like to thank Michel Barnier and Maros Sefcovic, whose job it is now to unfreeze the frozen relationship. And. I'd like to thank my Dutch colleague who has been elected to the Dutch parliament, who looked after this file of the European Parliament before I stepped in.

SOUNDBITE (Original), Andreas SCHIEDER (S&D, AT), Our job now is to approve this agreement, which allows for fair trade and fair competition between the EU and the UK, safeguarding high social consumer protection standards, the Paris Accord, climate goals. And it continues cooperation in the sphere of research and the flagship programme Horizon Europe. There are clearly things still to be done to improve things for millions of British people and the thousands of EU citizens who live in the UK.

SOUNDBITE (Original), Andreas SCHIEDER (S&D, AT), The French fishermen, the Polish students, the UK bands that want to play in Europe, the German start-ups that want to cooperate with UK entities. All of these see their livelihoods under threat. We have to be very clear when, we have to be absolutely clear about the fact that a partnership can only work if both sides play by the rules.

SOUNDBITE (Original), Andreas SCHIEDER (S&D, AT), And the era of Brexit is visible in the violence in Northern Ireland, and it is our job to ensure that the Northern Ireland peace agreement is protected and continues and that peace continues to prevail. I'd like to thank the president of the Commission. We want to play our role in this process. We want to be alert in the years ahead to how the agreement is implemented. And we want to be sure that we are the voice of the citizens of the European Union. There are citizens on both sides of the English Channel whose interests deserve to be properly safeguarded.

SOUNDBITE (Original), Andreas SCHIEDER (S&D, AT), Brexit is a historic mistake. It was pushed through by irresponsible nationalism based on false promises and short-sightedness. Brexit is bad for Britain and Brexit is bad for Europe. The price is not paid by the conservative millionaires, but by the most vulnerable people in our society, the unskilled workers, the single parents, the people who deliver our parcels and our foods.

SOUNDBITE (Original), Andreas SCHIEDER (S&D, AT), And our message must be for them. We haven't forgotten about you. It's not over. We will see each other again. The United Kingdom is part of Europe and its future place, and the place also of the people of the United Kingdom will be amongst friends in the European Union. And now, ladies and gentlemen, we have to make sure that that becomes a reality.

SOUNDBITE (Original), David SASSOLI, EP President, And I'd also like to thank Vice President Maros Sefcovic for being present here in the chamber. Mr. Hansen, go ahead.

SOUNDBITE (Original), Christophe HANSEN (EPP, LU), Thank you very much, President. Madam President. Vice president, madam secretary of state. Maybe I can start by thanking Michel Barnier, here today. Michel, you've done a fantastic job. You were heading the task force and you provided a guarantee of the unity and strength of this side, something that was almost unprecedented. And I hope we'll have the same unity for, on other files when we're looking at other third countries that we need to deal with. So thank you, Michel, for everything you've done for the EU.

SOUNDBITE (Original), Christophe HANSEN (EPP, LU), Today, the European Parliament has the regrettable duty to really get Brexit done. This plenary debate and vote conclude for months of intense scrutiny of the trade and cooperation agreement in all its different dimension, whereas the House of Commons barely had a few hours to do so. Though it remains true that this parliament never liked that the TCA was provisionally applied before we could deliver our verdict,this situation has given us the opportunity to observe the TCA in action.

SOUNDBITE (Original), Christophe HANSEN (EPP, LU), However imperfect the trade and cooperation agreement it has the merit to for having cushioned the worst impact of the economic Brexit this year. Nevertheless, provisional application without Parliament's prior consent President Von der Leyen cannot be a precedent for any future procedures. And we have made this as a parliament, I believe abundantly clear. I am today recommending that this House gives a positive vote to the TCA.

SOUNDBITE (Original), Christophe HANSEN (EPP, LU), The UK government, however, should not mistakenly take this for a blank check or a vote of blind confidence in its intention to implement the agreements between us in good faith. No, they should see this as the EU taking an insurance policy against further unilateral deviations from what was jointly agreed, not least because a positive vote on the TCA means that we are expanding our legal tools and leverage to continue pressing for full and pragmatic implication, implementation of the Northern Ireland Protocol.

SOUNDBITE (Original), Christophe HANSEN (EPP, LU), The Protection of the [...] won piece on the island of Ireland through the Good Friday Agreement has been the EU's number one preoccupation ever since the referendum in 2016. The protocol was and is the EU's and the UK's joint response to the conundrum of exiting the single market and avoiding a hard border. So instead of playing fast and loose with the terms of the jointly agreed protocol, undermining repeatedly the necessary trust for our new relationship to evolve, the UK government should own up to the agreement it will signed.

SOUNDBITE (Original), Christophe HANSEN (EPP, LU), The TCA will be one more tool to hold the UK government to account should they deliberately seek to undermine the protocol. Infringement proceedings under the withdrawal agreement are on the way and I want to call upon the Commission to pursue them with vigour. Should they, however, be met with persistent non-compliance, then we can resort to the TCA to suspend, for example, obligations under the TCA., like reimposing tariffs or quotas if necessary, as a last resort.

SOUNDBITE (Original), Christophe HANSEN (EPP, LU), But our real leverage definitely lies in the TCA, and I sincerely hope that we will not come so far indeed, and that the Vice President Sefcovic and Lord Frost can come to agreement in the form of a credible roadmap that will see the protocol fully implemented. They are sufficiently room for pragmatism and flexibility once all provisions have been implemented. And we continue to believe that the protocol is the best way to safeguard the peace in Northern Ireland.

SOUNDBITE (Original), Christophe HANSEN (EPP, LU), A positive vote for the TCA., which has secured unprecedented levels of market access, also means increased legal certainty for companies that are operating under very difficult circumstances these days. With the supply chains affected by Brexit and by the pandemic, plunging our companies into a renewed uncertainty would be hugely irresponsible. A positive vote means preserving and solidifying the unprecedented and hard won level playing field safeguard that this parliament has all heavily advocated in favour.

SOUNDBITE (Original), Christophe HANSEN (EPP, LU), And we should be under no illusion. There are those in the House of Commons that would face any opportunity to fully break free from those hard won provisions. And last but not least, a positive vote today does not mean that the Parliament resigns its duties or relinquishes its oversight. On the contrary, and the Commission President made a clear declaration enshrining the parliament's institutional oversight, setting in stone the future role of the parliament as a watchdog for this agreement

SOUNDBITE (Original), Christophe HANSEN (EPP, LU), So therefore the Parliamentary Partnership Assembly should take up its functions rather sooner than later so that we may together monitor the implementation of the TCA and continue to build bridges across the channel because our fates and future will always and inextricably be interlinked. For those reasons, dear colleagues, I strongly recommend to ratify and vote in favour of the TCA today. It is the only responsible thing to do for our businesses, for our companies, for our citizens. Let's move ahead. Thank you very much.