The European Commission has made clear that Gibraltar is part of the Brexit withdrawal negotiations and that Spain’s additional veto only applies in respect of the UK’s future arrangements with the EU.
The head of the European Union’s executive called its parliament “totally ridiculous” during a spat over low MEP attendance. After EU Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker thanked the few dozens of the 700-plus MEPs for attending a plenary session, he insisted that “parliament is not serious” for failing to show up in large numbers for the keynote debate of the day.
UK Prime Minster Theresa May has boasted about being a “bloody difficult woman” amid reports of a clash with European Commission president Jean-Claude Juncker over Brexit. Mrs. May insisted “a lot” of the leaked account of a difficult Downing Street dinner between the two sides was “Brussels gossip”.
The EU’s negotiators will work to keep the border between Ireland and Northern Ireland “as open as possible” after Brexit, the President of the bloc, Jean-Claude Juncker, said after meeting Irish Prime Minister Enda Kenny.
A future relationship between Britain and the European Union will take years to negotiate and the UK can expect a hefty bill as the price of exit, European Commission president Jean-Claude Juncker has warned. Mr. Juncker said Britain must understand that it will not be able to negotiate a “cut-price or zero-cost” exit from the EU, but will have to settle the bill for commitments which it entered into as a member.
Scottish leader Nicola Sturgeon pleaded her case in Brussels on Wednesday for Scots to stay in the EU, showing how Britain's vote to leave the bloc could splinter the United Kingdom. But she drew a rebuff from Spain and a mixed response from European officials.
Minister David Cameron invoked Britain's wartime spirit in a last-ditch bid to win votes on Wednesday on the eve of a knife-edge referendum on European Union membership that has put the continent on alert.
Germany said it could take half a million refugees annually over several years as Greek islands struggled on Tuesday to process a huge backlog of migrants desperate to travel to western Europe. Reflecting deepening concern, the European Union's president warned the EU faced a years-long refugee crisis, while the UN urged countries worldwide to help tackle the problem.
Euro zone members announced on Tuesday that they have given Greece until the end of the week to come up with a proposal for sweeping reforms in return for loans that will keep the country from crashing out of Europe's currency bloc and into economic ruin.
Euro-zone nations will hold an emergency summit on Tuesday to discuss the Greek referendum No result after the German and French leaders called for a meeting, EU president Donald Tusk said. The special meeting comes as Brussels reels with the implications of what the head of the Euro-group of finance ministers from the 19-country block, Jeroen Dijsselbloem, called a very regrettable decision.