Press release: Brexit: EU foreign affairs committees exchanged views with Michel Barnier

EP Foreign Affairs Committee Chair underlines the importance of the withdrawal agreement for the EU’s external policies and expresses the Committee’s readiness to adopt its formal opinion.

On Tuesday, the European Parliament’s Foreign Affairs Committee (AFET), together with members of EU national parliaments’ foreign, defence and European affairs committees, held an exchange of views on the EU’s future relations with the United Kingdom with the Union’s chief negotiator, Michel Barnier. After the meeting, the Chair of the EP Foreign Affairs Committee Mr David McAllister (EPP, DE) said: “Over the past months, we have strongly supported the EU negotiators’ efforts and ensured close coordination as regards our views on the objectives and the process of the UK leaving the EU. This coordination has been essential to ensure the EU speaks with one voice. Today, as we approach the European elections on 23-26 May and therefore the end of this legislature, we invited the EU’s chief negotiator, Michel Barnier, to discuss the future EU-UK relations after Brexit together with national parliament representatives from all over the European Union. Brexit represents a fundamental chapter for the European Union. We in the European Parliament are closely following the developments, notably with the Brexit Coordinator, Guy Verhofstadt. Nevertheless, it is equally as important to closely associate our colleagues from the national parliaments in this respect. Today we therefore congratulated and thanked Michel Barnier and his team for all the hard work in defending the interests of the EU and for preserving unity among member states and EU institutions. Some aspects of the withdrawal agreement specifically refer to the EU’s external policies – notably our common foreign and security policy (CFSP) and common security and defence policy (CSDP), such as Articles 127, 129 and 156. These are important to maintain strong EU external policies should the UK approve the withdrawal agreement. If and when the UK approves this agreement, the European Parliament is expected to vote on whether or not to give its consent to it. The Foreign Affairs Committee will provide its opinion on the matter in a timely manner – we are ready. We now wait for the United Kingdom to hopefully approve the agreement or otherwise tell us – quickly and clearly – what it actually wants in terms of its relations with the EU once it is a third country.”