This morning at the plenary session of the European Parliament in Strasbourg, President of the European Commission Jean-Cloude Juncker underlined the importance of the Parliament’s role in the upcoming negotiations with the UK, reiterating that it will need to scrutinise the final agreement at the end of the two-year negotiating process.
“You are the checks and the balances during the negotiations themselves” President Juncker told MEPs. On the future of the European Union at 27, President Juncker said that the withdrawal of the UK is a sad moment but that it has provided a new impetus for the Union, as already witnessed by the signature of the Bratislava Declaration and Roadmap by the EU27, the Malta Summit in February this year and the signature of the Rome Declaration on 25 March.
“Today we must make choices, choices about how we want to work, act, move forward together” President Juncker said, recalling that the debate on the future of Europe, “must take place throughout Europe: with our national parliaments, with our regions, with our civil society, and with the artists and the creators, without whose contribution we would not have become what we are”. The full speech is available online.
Thanking the Parliament for its preparatory work ahead of the negotiations with the UK, Chief Negotiator Michel Barnier underlined the conditions necessary for reaching an agreement in the upcoming negotiations. He stressed the importance of unity amongst the Member States of the EU as well as the necessity of removing uncertainty, particularly for European citizens, as soon as possible. Mr Barnier stated that “the sooner we agree on the principles of an orderly withdrawal, the sooner we can prepare our future relationship”. Mr Barnier’s full speech is available here.
