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Echoing language from a speech by Theresa May earlier this month, Mr Barnier said that “it is time to face up to the hard facts” on Brexit, in comments that cut directly across key aspects of the UK prime minister’s negotiating stance.
A country cannot have the “the status of a third country and at the same time want the advantages of the union,” he said.
Speaking in the European Parliament in Brussels, Mr Barnier explicitly ruled out any chance for Britain to secure the crucial “mutual recognition” of its regulatory standards it needs to access the single market, unless it accepts EU oversight of its rules.
“One cannot solicit, from the outside, mutual recognition of rules and standards, were that to repose only on trust,” he said. It needs “common law, coherent supervision and one legal authority,” he said.
“We could not allow someone to participate in our agencies “without the legal obligation to apply EU law, and without the jurisdiction of the Court of Justice,” he said.
The EU must be particularly vigilant to prevent any risk of regulatory dumping, he said.
“It’s a fairly astonishing idea to think that the 27 member states and your parliament could accept convergence when the UK wants it, while leaving it at the same time the possibility to deviate when it sees a competitive advantage,” he said.
Full article on Financial Times (subscription required)
Statement by Michel Barnier (in French)