'This will not fly' MEPs throw Brussels into chaos by vowing to VETO UK-EU transition plan

German MEP Manfred Weber, chairman of the EPP,
said Theresa May’s proposal to seal an
implementation period on current membership terms
“will not fly” and should be roundly rejected.
He told a press conference in Strasbourg the “copy
and paste” model, which has met with approval from
other EU leaders, is unacceptable because it would
give the UK the same advantages as a member state.
Under Mrs May’s plan, put forward in her Florence
speech, Britain will exactly replicate the terms of the
Single Market and Customs Union for a two-year period
beyond March 2019.
However, the UK will lose its MEPs and Commissioner
as well as its seat on the Council once it formally exits
the club meaning it will effectively become an EU rule
taker for the duration of such an agreement.
EPP chairman Manfred Weber
This window - which she calls an implementation
period and eurocrats label a transition - would allow
the two sides to make more extensive progress on the
terms of the future partnership.
It is seen by both sides as an acceptable way of
ensuring that the UK technically leaves the bloc in
2019, thus delivering Brexit, whilst avoiding a cliff-edge
for business and citizens.
But asked about the plan today, Mr Weber said Britain
and the EU already have two years to negotiate the
divorce which should be long enough to put the
framework for a relationship in place.
And he warned that if there is not “substantial”
progress on the terms of a trade deal before the
Article 50 period runs out there is a risk the UK will
crash out without a deal.
The
German MEP, whose grouping includes Angela Merkel,
Jean-Claude Juncker and Donald Tusk, is one of the
biggest Brexit hardliners in Brussels and has said it is
a “good thing” the bloc is preparing for a no-deal
scenario.
Today he hold reporters: “I can only say when in
March 2019 Britain will leave we will not accept as
EPP a treaty which will guarantee to simply copy and
paste about all the advantages of the EU membership
situation.
“If a country leaves the EU you’re losing the
advantages of this union. We can talk about a future
arrangement, but we will not accept that you have the
same conditions like a member state inside the
union.”
Mr Weber said that in the parliament’s view significant
progress should be made towards what the final Brexit
deal will look like before March 2019, despite the fact
experts warn this is impossible.
He said any transitional period should then be about
avoiding a cliff edge scenario on “left over” issues yet
to be concluded, ensure a smooth exit for Britain out
of the bloc.
Nations putting the EU in
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Mon, October 23, 2017
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[AFP/Getty Images]
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If EU leaders “sufficient progress” has been made in
phase one of the talks at their next summit in
December that will leave just a year within which to
discuss the future partnership before any deal has to
be put before MEPs.
But Mr Weber insisted: “We cannot manage to solve
everything in two years’ time, but the transitional
period was always seen as the left overs should be
copied and pasted.
“Now it seems that nothing will be solved in the next
two years and we will simply copy and paste about all
the issues and I can only say from our parliament’s
point of view that will not fly.
“If there’s no achievement then we’re risking a hard
Brexit. We need an outcome in the next two years
substantially about the future relationship otherwise
we will have big difficulties.”

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