Section:GDN 1J PaGe:5 Edition Date:190801 Edition:01 Zone: Sent at 31/7/2019 18:38 cYanmaGentaYellowbla
Thursday 1 August 2019 The Guardian •
5
EU unity won’t
be broken by
intimidation
It is fi ction to talk of rewards for citizens or mini-deals
to mitigate the damage. Faced with a British government
intent on ratcheting up talk of no deal, other European
governments have no choice but to prepare for the
worst too, but this is far from a desirable path. In the
face of such irresponsible posturing, far from feeling
threatened, I fully expect EU governments to remain
calm and keep their unity. Attempts to put pressure on
Ireland will only be met with waves of solidarity from the
rest of the EU.
The European parliament’s Brexit steering group
met last week to discuss the new political order in
London. We made it clear that Brexit is a British decision
and that Article 50 can be revoked at any time. If an
extension is needed, for example for an election, the new
commission president designate, Ursula von der Leyen,
has been clear this would be considered.
But if Brexit does mean Brexit, we are determined
that the negotiated Withdrawal Agreement, including
the backstop, which safeguards the Good Friday
Agreement, cannot be discarded as Boris Johnson has
requested. Changes are, however, still possible, to make
the declaration on the future relationship between
Britain and the EU more ambitious, to ensure that the
deployment of the Irish backstop is not necessary.
Johnson will fi nd the European parliament an open
and constructive partner. I look forward in particular
to allaying his concerns regarding the imminent
accession of Turkey to the EU, following the claims of
the leave campaign he championed, while explaining
that the EU has no rules on the packaging of kippers in
the UK. The EU made a decision to stay out of the UK
referendum in 2016, but we won’t be afraid to challenge
populism and call out disinformation from across the
Channel for what it is.
UK-EU relations are at a crossroads. We are re-entering
another period of Brexit fever, with the most Eurosceptic
Guy Verhofstadt
is Brexit
coordinator for
the European
parliamentBritish cabinet ever formed. Paradoxically, the UK is
at the same time calling for a European naval force to
protect shipping lanes in the Gulf, as the realities of
an America-First foreign policy hit home. No amount
of bluster, wishful thinking or fake news can hide the
inherent contradictions of the Brexit project.
Despite the irresponsible language of the self-styled
disrupters now at the heart of the British government, it
is clear that Britain’s prosperity and European security
are intertwined. Britain’s rightful place lies at the heart
of the European project, fi ghting for a rules-based
liberal world order. Brexit is more than a tragedy, it
is a waste of all of our time, in an era when China and
the US are fi ghting for global hegemony and climate
breakdown threatens our very existence.
A united Europe could be a bastion of the free world.
Together we could become a global leader on the
climate emergency and set the terms of global trade.
As an anglophile, I still believe the quiet majority of
reasonable British people want to see their country
engaged as Europeans. The bonds of our collective
heritage are too strong for Boris Johnson or Nigel Farage
to break. No one should fall into the trap of thinking a
no-deal Brexit is the only way out of the quagmire the
Conservative party has led them into.
Boris Johnson repeatedly declares that Britain must
leave the EU, “do or die”, by 31 October, but Mr Johnson
misquotes the Charge of the Light Brigade by Alfred,
Lord Tennyson:
“Theirs not to make reply, Theirs not to reason why,
Theirs but to do and die. Into the valley of Death, Rode
the six hundred.”
It was telling that the three words, do or die,
misrepresent a poem about a famous British military
catastrophe. We must not allow an injurious Brexit
strategy, wrongly wrapped up in an English fl ag, to harm
us all.Guy
Verhofst adt
T
he expectation in Brussels is that
no-deal planning will be ramped up
in an attempt by Britain to intimidate
other EU countries. But no matter
what Mr Johnson or his Vote Leave
cabinet threaten, be in no doubt:
there isn’t time to limit the damage of
a sudden severance from the world’s
largest trading bloc this Halloween.
Unless Johnson requests a further extension
or revokes Article 50 by 31 October , when the
current extension of UK membership expires, a
dramatic shock awaits the global economy and we
all stand to lose. The few who may prosper are the
wealthy bankers and hedge fund managers who have
bet on chaos.РЕЛИЗ ПОДГОТОВИЛА ГРУППА "What's News" VK.COM/WSNWS