Press Release – Debate on last months EU Summit

 

Press release
Strasbourg January 16 2017
Immediate

Kamall: Londoners expect us to sort out Brexit

European Union negotiators must decide whether they want a Brexit deal that prioritises people or the EU project, the UK’s most senior MEP said today.

London’s Conservative MEP Syed Kamall, co-leader of the European Conservatives and Reformists Group, told the European Parliament that voters were watching to see whether politicians were capable of putting the interests of ordinary people ahead of their own.

He said: “Voters, citizens and workers don’t care about legal technicalities, they don’t sit at home hoping the UK is made an example of. They simply want both sides to sort it out.

“I know that from talking to my own constituents in London and to other ordinary people across Britain and Europe.

“They want to keep making a living, keep selling their products, keep their jobs, keep travelling and keep safe.

“So, quite simply, the EU needs to decide whether – is this is a deal for the European peoples or a deal for the European project?”

Dr Kamall was taking part in a European Parliament debate on last month’s EU summit at which it was agreed to move Brexit talks onto the second phase, when the withdrawal agreement and the future UK/EU trade relationship will be discussed.

He insisted the goal of both sides must be to secure a  unique, mutually advantageous deal.

Dr Kamall stressed: “While the UK asks for a bespoke deal, EU negotiators are asking which template. But we all know that while a specific trade deal may act as a template for others, no two trade deals are exactly alike. After all, the Canada-EU agreement was bespoke.”

“The ECR Group believes that this is a question not limited to Brexit but a fundamental question about the very future of the EU.

“Is the EU serving the needs of its peoples? Is the EU offering solutions to the core challenges its member states face? Could the EU do less, but do it better?”

ENDS

Contact Joh  Furbisher
john@furbisher.media
07801 195800

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