Honoured to address once again the plenary session @EU_EESC which is the voice of #EU civil society. Dialogue with all stakeholders and social partners at the heart of our approach in these unprecedented #Brexit negotiations.@EESC_President My speech 👇: (_link) pic.twitter.com/964h6kv2Rz

— Michel Barnier (@MichelBarnier) January 23, 2019

Speech by Michel Barnier at the European Economic and Social Committee

On 6 July 2017, at the very start of the negotiations with the UK, I had the pleasure of addressing you. At the time, I said that everybody needed to prepare for Brexit.

I also said that, given the consequences of Brexit, it would not be business as usual: there can be no frictionless trade outside the Single Market and the Customs Union.

And finally, I also said to you that all of us needed to be ready, in any case, for a "no deal".

Ladies and gentlemen,

Eighteen months later, preparing for a "no-deal" scenario is more important than ever, even though I still hope that we can avoid this. The UK will become a third country on 29 March, just 65 days from now.

[...]

But my responsibility is to say what is at stake.

There are two possible ways to leave the EU:

•  An orderly withdrawal based on the agreement that we have built step by step with the UK for the last 18 months.


•  A disorderly withdrawal: leaving the EU without a deal is the default scenario.

There appears to be a majority in the House of Commons to oppose a "no deal". But opposing "no deal" will not stop "no deal" from happening at the end of March.

To stop "no deal", a positive majority for another solution will need to emerge. This is the objective of the political consultations that Theresa May has started. We hope that this process will be successful.