UK 'to be locked out' of EU security partnerships after Brexit, Barnier says
Britain will not have access to the European Arrest Warrant or the European Union’s wide security databases after Brexit, chief negotiator Michel Barnier warned on Tuesday.
Speaking at a security conference in Vienna on Tuesday amid calls from Prime Minister Theresa May for close security ties, the EU's chief Brexit negotiator said the UK would have to submit to EU judges in order to stay.
He pointed out that this would breach one of May's key pledges, to end the jurisdiction of the European Court of Justice in the UK.
Barnier said: “This cooperation is both unique and unprecedented. And it is made possible by the trust between member states. This trust does not fall from the sky. There is no magic wand.”
“You are a third country because you have decided to be so. And you need to build a new relationship.
"They want to maintain all the benefits of the current relationship, while leaving the EU regulatory, supervision, and application framework. And they try to blame us for the consequences of their choice,” he added.
Barnier also said that to stay in the EAW, the UK should keep freedom of movement and that would breach another key point from the Leave campaign.
EU leaders are meeting in Brussels at the end of next week in a summit where the Irish border issue will be discussed. Ireland’s foreign minister Simon Coveney has already expressed his pessimism for a concluded agreement.
These comments from Barnier come as May prepares to face another showdown in the Commons on Wednesday after suffering a defeat on the “meaningful vote” in the Lords earlier on this week.