EU ‘delusions of grandeur’ must end if members want to protect trade with Brexit Britain
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Former Brexit Party MEP Andrew Kerr insisted that the European Union must ditch any preconceived notions the bloc may hold and work with the UK to build closer trading ties between the two markets. He listed trapping such as an EU anthem and passports as examples of these “delusions” and implied that EU member states would need to switch their focus away from such things and on to “their biggest exporters” in the UK in order to secure the best trade terms going forward.
Mr Kerr told RT: “I think they got delusions of grandeur.
“They would be far better of working with one of their biggest exporters, to our market,” he added.
Touching upon the EU border customs chaos impacting British companies over the past weeks he said Brussel would be better served to try “to make things go through smoothly.”
His comments follow those of Professor-Doctor Daniel Thym who has warned that any delay in the European Union’s effort to green-light the Brexit trade deal could result in Britain not taking the bloc seriously in the future.
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The expert in EU law said Brussels should avoid any “unnecessary delays” in its ratification process after several hiccups threatened to derail the completion of the paperwork.
His warning comes after EU member states claimed translations of the 1,246-page Trade and Cooperation Agreement could miss the deadline for ratification.
Britain has agreed to provisionally apply the future relationship treaty give until February 28 to give Brussels time to complete any outstanding formalities.
Speaking at a Bundestag hearing in Germany, Professor-Doctor Thym said: “I would warn against badmouthing the cooperation programme.
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“The EU, just like Great Britain drove a hard bargain and they achieved a lot, but more wasn’t possible.
That is not something we would want.”
Downing Street has so far rejected the idea of allowance the EU to extend the period of provisional application.
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But Brussels has yet to put in a formal request ahead of the February 28 deadline.
If delayed, MEPs could be given until April to scrutinise and eventually vote to rubber-stamp the Brexit trade deal.
It is understood EU member states are also keen for the extra time so they can understand the so-called level playing field provisions in the treaty.
Express.co.uk previously reported that some European capitals were pushing for more powers in any decision to punish Britain for attempting to gain a competitive advantage over the bloc.
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