| UPDATED: 09:36, Thu, Feb 25, 2021
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The Brussels diplomat told member state ambassadors they must crack down on Britain to ensure other countries do not follow it out of the exit door. The Frenchman was attending his final meeting of the bloc’s “Coreper” meeting of EU27 envoys before he steps down as head of the European Commission’s UK task force. Mr Barnier urged them to be “vigilant” that Britain fully respects both the Brexit divorce and trade deals, especially the Northern Ireland Protocol to avoid a hard border.
Emmanuel Macron was criticised by some EU leaders (Image: GETTY)
Prior to the vote, the anti-EU rhetoric was building across the bloc, particularly in countries such as France and Sweden.
In Stockholm, one survey found that 36 percent of Swedes wanted Swexit - the country s answer to Brexit - while in May 2016, an Ipsos Mori poll suggested that more than half of Italian and French citizens wanted to vote on their country s membership within the EU.
In the aftermath of the vote, Jeppe Kofod, a Danish MEP and leader of the Social Democrats in the European Parliament, warned of a domino effect that could be experienced with other nations wanting to leave.
| UPDATED: 17:02, Tue, Feb 23, 2021
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Brussels requests that the Trade and Cooperation Agreement remains provisionally applied until April 30 because of holdups in its attempt to translate the 1,240-word document into the bloc’s more than 20 languages. A Government spokesman expressed “disappointment” at the EU’s failure to prepare for the European Parliament to vote on the pact by the previously agreed deadline, February 28. They said: “Today we have agreed to extend the deadline for the EU to ratify the deal until 30 April.
| UPDATED: 20:08, Mon, Feb 22, 2021
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Dutch socialist Kati Piri told an online event that the European Parliament has everything in place to ratify the UK-EU Trade and Cooperation Agreement this week. The process is currently held up because the European Council and Commission are still translating the 1,246-page treaty into the bloc’s more than 20 official languages. Eurocrats were meant to have completed this task before February 28, a deadline agreed with the UK, so MEPs could cast the deciding vote to greenlight the future relationship pact.
| UPDATED: 19:07, Mon, Feb 22, 2021
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Irish foreign minister Simon Coveney said the bloc may revisit the rules if the UK agrees to adopt the same level of food standards. Lorry drivers have had their sandwiches confiscated at the EU’s borders, fishermen have been unable to export UK shellfish and plants with British soil on them have been blocked from crossing into the bloc with Brussels red tape to blame. These EU bans have also caused significant trade disruptions between Northern Ireland and the British mainland as part of the post-Brexit plan to avoid a hard border.