European Parliament Won't Be Rushed In Brexit 'farce'

Key lawmakers in the European Parliament on Monday said negotiating delays they blame on British Prime Minister Boris Johnson could endanger ratification of any impending post-Brexit trade deal

Brussels, (APP - UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 23rd Nov, 2020 ) :Key lawmakers in the European Parliament on Monday said negotiating delays they blame on British Prime Minister Boris Johnson could endanger ratification of any impending post-Brexit trade deal.

German MEP Bernd Lange, who heads the parliament's powerful trade commission, led the charge as post-Brexit negotiations continued virtually, with previously mooted deadlines having already passed.

If a post-Brexit trade deal is to be up and running by the end of the year, it must be ratified ahead of time by the European Parliament, barring some complex and politically touchy workaround.

Without a deal in place, EU-UK trade ties would see tariffs and quotas imposed on January 1, causing serious disruption and diplomatic discord.

"It is already five past 12," Lange tweeted. "We need a text, otherwise ratification and democratic scrutiny by European Parliament will be a farce," the social democrat continued.

"The gambling of Boris Johnson has brought us where we are now. We won't pay the price for that!" Given the potential for a no-deal to disrupt a European economy already on its knees from the Covid-19 pandemic, some believe that parliament would never dare block a deal.

Speaking to AFP, Lange allowed that even if "technically it might be still possible ... the whole exercise is not serious anymore" and would not offer the scrutiny normally seen for trade deals.

However, German MEP Manfred Weber, the head of the conservative European People's Party, said that parliament members "will make a proper assessment when we have an agreement".

"We will not rubber stamp it. It will go through the normal procedure," insisted Weber, who is seen as an ally of German Chancellor Angela Merkel.

French MEP Nathalie Loiseau said that parliament would "of course", if needed, ratify any deal between Christmas and the New Year.

But any provisional implementation of a free trade pact without the approval of MEPs -- an idea floating in Brussels -- would "frankly be a very bad basis for a deal of this importance".

"I am against it, it's democracy denied," France's former European Affairs minister added.