Читать книгу My Secret Brexit Diary - Michel Barnier - Страница 24

It’s all happening!

The day after I took office, Theresa May speaks at the Conservative Party conference in Birmingham, unveiling some of her strategy and offering pledges to the most hard-line Brexit supporters.

The Prime Minister emphasizes her vision for the future relationship between the EU and the UK, calling for a free trade agreement with sector-specific provisions. This strategy may help the UK to keep open lines of communication with British citizens who have expressed their desire for the UK to regain full sovereignty over future legislation, to have powers to limit immigration, and to form new trade alliances.

As far as the EU is concerned, it would allow the integrity of the internal market and the four fundamental freedoms associated with it to be respected, while maintaining trade relations and close cooperation in certain sectors.

But let’s not be naive: this negotiation cannot end up providing à la carte access to the internal market without any of the associated obligations, particularly in terms of the free movement of persons. On this we shall be vigilant!

Finally, the Prime Minister makes an important announcement: she clarifies that the UK will activate Article 50 of the Treaty of Lisbon before the end of March 2017, thereby triggering the two-year process of withdrawal of a member state from the European Union: ‘There was a good reason why I said – immediately after the referendum – that we should not invoke Article 50 before the end of this year. That decision means we have the time to develop our negotiating strategy.’

As the President of the European Council Donald Tusk remarks in the aftermath of May’s speech, this announcement does indeed bring ‘welcome clarity on the start of Brexit talks’.