Britain will regret Brexit, European Commission president Jean-Claude Juncker warns

Sarah Collins13 March 2018

Jean-Claude Juncker today told Britons “you will regret” the vote for Brexit.

In a speech to MEPs, the European Commission president said it was time for the UK Government to stop making speeches and knuckle down to the hard detail of what leaving the EU will mean.

He urged Theresa May to drop her Brexit red lines or risk a new border in Ireland and a no-frills trade deal that would squander growth.

Mr Juncker spoke at a special debate in the European Parliament to endorse the EU negotiating position for talks on trade that are due to be launched next week.

“The time will come when you will regret your decision,” the Brussels grandee said.

Mr Juncker said the EU needed "more clarity on how the UK sees its future relationship" - despite Theresa May's speech at Mansion House
Getty

“As the clock counts down, with one year to go, it is now time to translate speeches into treaties, to turn commitments into agreements, and broad suggestions and wishes about the future into specific and workable solutions.”

The Euro-parliament’s Brexit coordinator, Guy Verhofstadt, said it was time for the UK to go “beyond the slogans and the soundbites” and present concrete proposals.

“The problem is, we don’t have a proposal from the UK side on the future relationship with the union - it’s still lacking,” he told MEPs, adding that the prime minister’s Mansion House speech consisted only of “repeating the red lines that we already know”.

Green MEP Philippe Lamberts said the UK was facing a “trilemma” because of its insistence on leaving the customs union and single market, and that it should reconsider those red lines.

“This has nothing to do with the alleged stubbornness of the EU27, it has everything to do with the stubbornness of facts,” Mr Lamberts said.

“Until the Prime Minister reconsiders her position, it will be very hard for us to engage in any meaningful discussion on what our future relationship may be,” Mr Lamberts said.

The appeals follow the publication of the bloc’s guidelines on the future EU-UK relationship last week, which proposed a no-frills trade deal, including EU access to UK fishing waters but omitting specific mention of financial services.

On Wednesday, MEPs will approve a proposal for a post-Brexit “association agreement” with the UK, which provides for special cooperation between the bloc and its near neighbours.

The 16-page resolution calls for cooperation on trade, foreign policy, security and “thematic areas” such as research, education, aviation and nuclear energy.

Former UKIP leader Nigel Farage, an MEP, said the EU was “bullying” the UK and urged the prime minister to “stand strong”.

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