”Malta must show to Europe and the world that its rules and regulations are healthy and robust,” European Commission first vice-president Frans Timmermans said. “If problems of a more general or systemic nature are brought to light, they must also be addressed, regardless of the consequences.”
European Parliament's Brexit coordinator has said he got a shock on his recent visit to Belfast when he saw the city's peace walls. Guy Verhofstadt described Northern Ireland as having a frozen conflict, and said the Good Friday Agreement must not be damaged by Brexit.
European Parliament’s lead Brexit negotiator Guy Verhofstadt has rejected Theresa May’s offer on citizens’ rights, claiming it was casting a “dark cloud” over people’s status. In a joint article with a cross-party group of senior MEPs, Mr Verhofstadt said the Prime Minister’s plan was a “damp squib” which carried a risk of creating “second-class citizenship”.
The European Parliament could seek to block talks on a UK-EU trade deal unless guarantees are put in place for the rights of citizens, the MEP in charge of the process has indicated. Guy Verhofstadt, the parliament’s chief Brexit negotiator, said MEPs would have to decide whether sufficient progress had been made on issues including EU citizens’ rights in the UK and those of British expatriates on the continent before talks on Britain’s future relationship with Brussels could proceed.
Gibraltar is preparing for a hard Brexit but expects new opportunities for its financial services sector despite the challenges ahead, Finance Centre Director James Tipping told a European Parliament committee in Brussels. Mr Tipping told the parliament’s Committee of Inquiry into Money Laundering, Tax Avoidance and Tax Evasion that Gibraltar’s finance centre was “small by European standards” but crucial to Gibraltar’s economy.
British citizens should be able to choose to keep various benefits of EU membership including the freedom of movement after Brexit, the European Parliament’s chief negotiator has said. Guy Verhofstadt said he hoped to convince European leaders to allow Britons to keep certain rights if they apply for them on an individual basis.
The European Commission has refused to discuss the size of the “exit bill” to be handed to the UK when it withdraws from the EU, amid reports the demand has been fixed at around £48 billion.
The president of the European Parliament Martin Schulz said in Buenos Aires that if finally a trade and cooperation agreement is reached between the European Union and Mercosur the United Kingdom will not benefit as a consequence of Brexit.
Brexit campaigners have hit out at former foreign secretary William Hague after he claimed the Falkland Islands could fall to Argentina if the UK votes to quit the EU. In comments rubbished as scaremongering by Leave campaigners, Mr. Hague warned of an uncertain future for Falkland Islanders.
UK Foreign Secretary Philip Hammond has issued a firm hands-off warning to Argentina by insisting the government will “never sell out” the Falkland Islands. The Foreign Secretary insisted the “bullying and harassment” against the Islanders must stop, adding it is counter-productive and “shameful”.