Live Replay of the debate on the UK’s withdrawal from the EU during the plenary session in Brussels (30-31/01/2019)  The following transcription is the result of an automatic process. Check Against delivery.

Brussels

Brexit (T)

debate

plenary session

BARNIER, Michel (FR)

The UK’s withdrawal from the EU: opening statement by Michel BARNIER, EC Chief Negotiator for Article 50 Negotiations with the UK (16:32 - 16:46)

SOUNDBITE (Original), Michel BARNIER, EC Chief Negotiator, Thank you. Ladies and gentlemen. Thank you for allowing me once again to speak to you here in the plenary and day after day to consolidate next to President Juncker this climate of dialogue transparency and confidence that we have built together with you. Ladies and gentlemen members of the European Parliament and in particular with the great Brexit a steering group gave Verhofstadt and all the members of the group over the past year and a half.

We've had a meeting pretty much every week. Ladies and gentlemen for the first time yesterday the UK Prime Minister Theresa May openly called to reopen the withdraw agreement even before the vote. Late in the evening she took distance from the agreement she herself had negotiated and on which we had retreat achieved an agreement. The UK government then explicitly supported the amendment and adviser Graeme Brady calling for the backstop to be replaced. That was planned under the Irish protocol and to have that replaced by alternative arrangements which were never actually defined at the same time the chain the House of Commons rejected the no deal scenario without clarifying what means they would take to avoid that scenario.

So that is currently the state of play in terms of this extraordinary and lengthy negotiation which well because I was in the frontline and under the authority of President Juncker President Tuscan yourself. It was a very serious.

President Juncker, remind us what happened yesterday evening and we share the will of the UK Parliament to avoid a no deal. I agree with Theresa May voting against a no deal as happened yesterday does not rule out the risk of a no deal for us ladies and gentlemen the withdrawal agreement is and remains the best and only means to ensure an orderly withdrawal of the United Kingdom and to implement in an orderly manner the sovereign decision taken by the majority of UK citizens which we respect. That being to leave the European Union and despite the difficulties we're facing today I believe we can achieve that objective on the condition that we are both lucid and realistic and we are responsible and respectful on both sides each side with the other.

Ladies and gentlemen the backstop as mentioned by President Juncker is part and parcel of the withdrawal agreement and this agreement will not be renegotiated. The conclusions of the European Council in December which are squared with the resolutions of the European Parliament leave no scope for doubt on that point on the backstop briefly just so that everyone fully understands what we're talking about. The backstop. It's not any kind of dogmatism. It is a realistic solution.

Throughout the negotiations under your control we sought solutions to the problems created in particular but not only in particular in Ireland by Brexit itself and the backstop as it's included in the withdrawal agreement is the outcome of these extremely intense negotiations over two years involving us with the United Kingdom never against the United Kingdom. The backstop is a pragmatic response to the unique situation on eye on the island of Ireland. After the UK decided in its sovereign right to leave not only the European Union but also the single market and then also the Customs Union.

We needed two years to come up with this solution which reconciles various different requirements. The first one for all of us being to avoid at all costs the return of a hard border in Ireland in other words to preserve the conditions which have been in place for the past 20 years peace stability and dialogue on the island of Ireland since the Good Friday and Belfast agreement agreement was signed. And I would recall that the United Kingdom itself through its own prime minister on several occasions has confirmed its commitment as a core guarantor of the conditions of that Good Friday Belfast Agreement and for 20 years we ourselves through the peace programme European law European policies a European budget we have supported the success of that co-operation between the various different communities.

That's a first requirement. Then the second requirement is the call from the UK government to keep Northern Ireland and Ukraine in a single customs territory. The third requirement obviously ours the one for which we are collectively responsible is to preserve the integrity of the internal market. That is a crucial point to us ladies and gentlemen. The Irish border because of the UK will is going to become the the border of the EU and our own internal market is going to be one of our new external border. And what is at stake of course is the protection of all consumers and companies in the union. More specifically still the UK decision to leave the EU the single market has a practice and the Customs Union has a clear result.

All goods, all animals or plants produce all live animals going into Northern Ireland from the UK are not only entering Northern Ireland Ireland but they're also entering into the the single market of that of your countries and the the safety the the nature of those products linked to animal quality and I'm saying this is a former minister of agriculture in my country that requires checks and those checks are implemented on all of our external borders all around the EU. Health checks fiscal checks veterinary checks and regulatory checks. And we owe that protection to the 500 million consumers with the UK now and the 22 million companies we owe that protection to all of those who are in the internal market.

For those people now calling to get rid of the backstop. There are members of the UK Parliament and I heard some of them saying this morning that they negotiated with us and they know perfectly well that this backstop is the solution we came up with for what is the very heart the Coreper of us as Europeans of our obligations and our principles as President Juncker was saying in other words the protection of the internal market in all of its dimensions all of the rights social rights economic rights consumer rights environmental rights and protection for companies and consumers.

So when I hear to some people who who were even part and parcel of the negotiations when I hear them saying what they're saying it's tough I find it hard to accept this blame game that they're there they're trying to play against us as President Juncker said we will do nothing too simple as that.

Nothing which would undermine the internal market. Nothing which would compromise the future of the European Union because of these negotiations and as the president said we are nonetheless open to alternative arrangements which were mentioned yesterday in the House of Commons. The Irish protocol and the political declaration mentioned that and the letter from President Juncker made that a priority for future negotiations were ready to work on that as soon as the withdrawal agreement is signed. But right here and now quite honestly no one neither on one side nor on the other can say very clearly and precisely what form these alternative arrangements will take so that they can be operational. And so that they can objectively meet the aims of the backstop.

So once again calmly but clearly I will say right here and now with this withdrawal agreement as proposed for ratification we need this backstop as it is ladies and gentlemen rejecting the backstop as it stands today boils down basically to rejecting the solution which was found with the British. But the problem remains as I've already described it for you. And on that point going beyond the alternative arrangements I mentioned the European Council and the European Parliament on several occasions have already clearly rejected the idea of having a limit in time or leaving unilateral unilaterally the backstop because that would undermine the very idea of the backstop. It's an assurance we don't want to use it. Well is your own insurance for your house or your apartment or whatever. We don't want to use it but it will be there if we need that insurance.

Finally the withdrawal agreement we're talking about that you're very familiar with goes well beyond the question of Ireland. This agreement ensures the rights of more than four and a half million citizens. Diana you talked about the priority of the parliament. It's ours as well. And whatever happens that priority to secure the rights of citizens our compatriots three and a half of them living in the UK from our different countries of course and the rights of one and a half million UK citizens in our countries securing those rights is our priority. We have to protect the beneficiaries all of them of the European budget in the 28 countries the commitments we entered into in 20 with 28 have to be respected by 28 a 21 month transition period in the course of which administrations and companies on both sides will be able to prepare themselves for this future relationship.

And that will give us a time not long. It will be very demanding but that will give us a time to negotiate the future relationship in a new stage of the negotiations. So this agreement is the necessary first step to build confidence between the United Kingdom which will remain an ally a partner a friendly country and the European Union a real solid ambitious partnership. And I would just like to add that in respect to this future relationship the Europeans are ready and will continue to be ready over coming days to be more ambitious and to rework the nature and intensity of our future relations economic relations in particular. And you know ladies and gentlemen that there are several models for economic cooperation with third countries. Each of these models obviously has its own balance of rights and obligations but there are many different models.

If the UK demand were to evolve beyond a simple free trade agreement on which we agreed in the political declaration towards and they move towards one or the other of these models we will be ready to discuss that immediately and express our own ambitions in the face of the UK ambitions. We've said that already as you have in your resolutions as has the European Council I mentioned lucidity beforehand and realism as you did madam secretary of state. It's less than 60 days now too when the UK is going to leave. But we don't have a positive majority now in the House of Commons on ACE and identify clearly identified solution accepted by the UK. And as President Juncker said it is therefore urgent that we should be prepared for all scenarios and we should bring in all contingency measures which are more essential than ever. And that's what the surgeon general has been called upon to do by President Juncker who is working with you and all of your team. Thank you very much for your attention and for your confidence.