At its June plenary session, the EESC hosted a debate with Michel Barnier, head of the EU task force for relations with the United Kingdom, on the state of play of the Brexit negotiations.

Michel Barnier expressed his disappointment over the attitude of the British government which, in his opinion, was not respecting the political declaration signed in October 2019: "We expect the UK to respect its engagements," he said.

One of the key issues addressed in the negotiations between the EU and the UK is the future of trade and tariffs. On this topic, Mr Barnier recalled that during its 47 years of EU membership, the UK had built up a strong position in the EU market in a number of strategic areas.  

"We must ask ourselves whether it is really in the EU's interest for the UK to retain such a prominent position. We cannot accept the UK's attempts to cherry-pick parts of our Single Market benefits", concluded Mr Barnier.

However, Michel Barnier expressed his hope that the negotiations would succeed in finding a "landing zone" in the summer or early autumn at the latest.

Mr Barnier engaged in debate with EESC members, who voiced their interest in the role of organised civil society in the future relationship between the EU and the UK and expressed their full support for his work.

Luca Jahier, president of the EESC, warned of the risk of the negotiations failing. "We are convinced that a no-deal scenario would have a very high cost, but we have to show that we are not prepared to reach a deal at any cost", he said. (dgf)