Reacting to the news coverage that British PM Theresa May is on her way to negotiating UK access to the single market with an additional rebate and a 7 to 10 year "emergency brake" on EU-migration, Guy Verhofstadt, leader of the Liberals and Democrats in the European Parliament said:
"A deal with these conditions would be unthinkable. It would allow the UK to expand its already very favorable position: keeping the best parts and ridding itself of the obligations that come with it."
The UK already enjoys several opt-outs from the EU — particularly being outside the Schengen borderless EU zone and also not a member of the Eurozone. Critics of the ten year "emergency brake" deal say it goes against the principle of allowing all EU citizens the freedom to work an any member state.
The European Parliament will block any deal giving the #UK a new, favourable status https://t.co/wKqNMOkYgM
— Guy Verhofstadt (@GuyVerhofstadt) 24 July 2016
The issue of immigration was central to the campaigns ahead of the In-Out referendum on Britain's membership of the EU. Many people in Britain are angry at the sheer volume of EU migrant workers flooding into the UK, flooding the labor market.
"EU Governments would be mad to agree to such a deal and I can tell you: the European Parliament will never agree to a deal that 'de facto' ends the free movement of people for a decade, while giving away an extra rebate in exchange for all the advantages of the internal market," Verhofstadt said.
'Having Their Cake and Eating It'
"What would stop other countries from asking the same exceptional status? Do we really want euroskeptics elsewhere in Europe to invoke the British example of 'having their cake and eating it'? Everyone can see that this position is irresponsible because it's not sustainable in the long run.
"The only new relationship between Britain and the European Union can be one in which the UK has an associated status with less obligations but equally less rights. And if this is not feasible, the fallback position will be an ordinary trade agreement between Britain and the EU," he said.
Read @GuyVerhofstadt's latest status update via https://t.co/lTTn6raMYf #brexit pic.twitter.com/KAH2obqBff
— ALDE Group (@ALDEgroup) 24 July 2016
Verhofstadt also points out a deeper problem with the current deal making process:
"By solving our problems this way — with more and more exceptions to the rules — we only create new precedents and thus, new problems. The way the Commission is tackling the Brexit negotiations is comparable to the way it has addressed the rule of law crisis in Turkey: closing its eyes."
