Brussels Will Not Allow UK to Curb Migration From EU and Enjoy Single Market

The European Parliament will not allow the United Kingdom to curb migration from the European Union and at the same time enjoy free access to the EU single market since freedom of movement is a core European freedom, the parliament's chief Brexit negotiator Guy Verhofstadt said Tuesday.

MOSCOW (Sputnik) — He added that members of the parliament would never accept any deal in which any of those four freedoms was endangered.

"It is impossible to find solutions where we destroy the so-called four freedoms. These four freedoms are key, they are a basic element of the European Union — the freedom of movement of goods, of services, of capital and of people," Verhofstadt told journalists as quoted by The Telegraph newspaper.

Verhofstadt met with UK Brexit Secretary David Davis in Brussels earlier in the day, with Davis stating that an outcome where both the interests of the United Kingdom and the European Union were met was possible despite the two sides disagreeing over the freedom of movement and UK access to the EU single market.

On June 23, the United Kingdom voted on referendum to leave the European Union. UK Prime Minister Theresa May has stated that the country would trigger Article 50 by the end of March 2017, thus kick-starting withdrawal negotiations. The timing was later reaffirmed despite the High Court ruling in November that the government must seek parliamentary approval before triggering the article.