During the EP Committee on Constitutional Affairs (AFCO), Guy VERHOFSTADT (ALDE, BE), Parliament's coordinator for the negotiations on the UK withdrawal from the EU and Danuta Maria HÜBNER (EPP, PL), Chair of AFCO and Member of the Parliament's Brexit Steering Group, participate in an exchange of views on the withdrawal of the UK from the European Union – state of play.

Brussels

exchange of views

VERHOFSTADT, Guy (Renew, BE)

Brexit (T)

article 50 of the Lisbon treaty (T)

EU - United Kingdom (T)

meeting

McGUINNESS, Mairead (EPP, IE)

HÜBNER, Danuta Maria (EPP, PL)

CORBETT, Richard (S&D, UK)

Committee on Constitutional Affairs

ETHERIDGE, Bill (EFDD, UK)

The withdrawal of the UK from the European Union – state of play : extracts from the exchange of views with Guy VERHOFSTADT (ALDE, BE), Parliament's coordinator for the negotiations on the UK withdrawal from the EU and with Danuta HÜBNER (EPP, PL)

Shots of Guy Verhofstadt, the European Parliament's Brexit negotiator arriving for the meeting (3 shots)

SOUNDBITE (English), Guy VERHOFSTADT, EP coordinator for the negotiations with the UK (MEP), Mr Barnier and his team continue for the moment to meet as they have being doing this week, with their UK counterparts, that means the UK Brexit secretary Stephen Barclay and British Atorney General Geoffrey Cox to try find solution and reassurance of the backstop that would help to the pass the withdrawal agreement in the House of Common, while respecting principles of the European Union.

SOUNDBITE (English), Guy VERHOFSTADT, EP coordinator for the negotiations with the UK (MEP), It is indeed for the first time last week that Prime Minister May talked about the possibility of an extension of article 50. She also say very clear in her intervention if any extension will be limited to the end of June 2019.The Brexit Steering Group has discussed the possibility of this possible requested, and the general approach this is continuing with the uncertainty, and certainly not first choice everybody has had.

SOUNDBITE (English), Richard CORBETT (S&amp;D, UK), Sorry for the confusion my country is causing to the rest of Europe, thank you for the solidarity that has been shown but we may be need a bit of solidarity, having an extension not like we have made up our minds, but an extension for us to go through a democratic process of asking the people what they think of Brexit once the see that it actually means.

SOUNDBITE (English), Bill ETHERIDGE (EFDD, UK), I can assure you I don't want to see another referendum, not because the side I support would lose but it would be catastrophic. It would be an awful, awful state of affairs in the UK, where democracy was seen not to have been under the first time round.

SOUNDBITE (English), Bill ETHERIDGE (EFDD, UK), A long extension is in nobody&rsquo;s interest, I understand the voices that will try to rerun the referendum and try to get the result they thought it was not right. I understand that but we have got to the point after years of negotiations promised Brexit and we must make sure, maybe there are short delays to get through amendments and bureacracy, but we must make sure that in the short term Brexit is delivered whether it will be with a deal which is acceptable to all sides or with WTO standards and rules.

SOUNDBITE (English), Mairead MCGUINNESS (EPP, IE), I know you'd like to see a WTO Brexit. It might not bother you but I would like to say that it might bother people who are on the ground, whose voices are not being heard. It would not be good for citizens on my side of an invisible border and citizens on the other side.

SOUNDBITE (English), Guy VERHOFSTADT, EP coordinator for the negotiations with the UK (MEP), We only have one red line that is we will not undo for the sake Brexit the Union system, the single market, the four freedoms, and the whole way of working that is linked to the Union and EU. When we talk about the backstop is necessary to avoid border in Ireland, and it is also necessary to safeguard the coherence of the single market, and that we will not undo.

SOUNDBITE (English), Guy VERHOFSTADT, EP coordinator for the negotiations with the UK (MEP), It is good that from British ideals we will take care based on the principles of the EU citizens living in Britain and we have to do the same thing from our side. We take care off. There is no agreement needed for that.