Brexit: the More Difficulties in Negotiations, the More British Regret for Their Decision

• 07.19.2017, 12:21
•  Europe,  World

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The negotiations on the UK's withdrawal from the European Union are not so smooth. The European Parliament threatens to veto Brexit's agreement if London does not offer other terms for the EU citizens residing in the UK. This is stated in the letter of the coordinating group of the European Parliament, addressed to EU Chief Negotiator on Brexit, Michelle Barnier.

The European parliamentarians are particularly concerned that, in case of London's new status, the EU will not have any guarantees that in the future Britain will not change its migration legislation. To remind, UK Prime Minister Theresa May offered 3.2 million EU citizens living in the country to apply for receiving a permanent residence permit. The European Parliament demands from the United Kingdom to give guarantees for the EU citizens’ rights, they have now.

However, this is not the only disagreement. The parties cannot agree on any of Brexit's financial components either. The European Union called the UK to recognize its multi million-dollar financial demands connected with the upcoming EU membership. It is about 100 billion euros. In Brussels, they state that the money should be paid for the financial obligations that London assumed, when joining the EU, the head of the EU Delegation told.

In London this claim is viewed as nothing but "robbery". UK Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson once again reaffirmed the position that London is not going to pay such a great amount of money to Brussels.

It should be noted that these two issues are still on the negotiating table, and in case of no progress, negotiations on bilateral relations between the UK and the EU will not take place. "The progress of just one or two of these topics will be insufficient to allow us to proceed to a debate on our future relationship," Barney told. Initially, the sides hoped that these issues would be settled by September, but there is likelihood that London and Brussels may not succeed by this time.

It should be noted that such delay in negotiations and uncompromising stance of the parties negatively affect the British public moods. As the poll shows, the number of Britons supporting Brexit is gradually decreasing. If Britain's economy collapses, the number of citizens supporting Brexit can dramatically decrease, which will further complicate the negotiation process for the British government. The EU hopes that in any case the official London, as ordinary British people, will also regret the Brexit decision. EU officials regularly say they are ready to accept the UK back, but Theresa May’s government continues to claim on ‘’Hard Brexit’’.