Commenting on the guidelines for Brexit negotiations to be adopted by the Council tomorrow, Gabi Zimmer MEP, President of GUE/NGL said:
 
“We welcome the willingness of the Council to engage with the European Parliament with regards to the priorities to be laid out for the EU negotiator, Michel Barnier. However, we are missing a clear commitment to fully involve the European Parliament in the negotiation process, especially when decisions to open new chapters are to be made. We think it is in the best interests of citizens across Europe, including in the UK, that there is transparency in the whole negotiation process.”
 
“We fully support the intention to put EU citizens’ right first. We need to swiftly and unconditionally provide legal certainty to nationals of EU member states living in the UK and British people living in other member states.
 
“For GUE/NGL, it is of utmost importance that the final agreement does not lead to the lowering of standards including environmental, social, workers’ rights, food safety and consumer standards.
 
“We fully support the need to focus on the border in Ireland and to ensure that the Good Friday Agreement is upheld in all its parts. One possible way to achieve this, and to respect the will of the majority of people in the north of Ireland would be to give the North of Ireland special status within the EU. Another way would be through Irish unity. In this regard we also welcome the proposal by the Irish prime minister for a declaration from the Council ensuring that a united Ireland would automatically be a member of the EU.”