Barnier warns UK it cannot pick and choose single market rules

Centre · 2Michel Barnier, the EU's chief Brexit negotiator from 2016 to 2021, warned in a BBC interview that the UK cannot pick and choose which parts of the EU single market it joins. 1 2 Centre · 2He spoke to the BBC's Sunday With Laura Kuenssberg. The BBC reported his comments on Saturday, and the Evening Standard said the full interview was due to air on Sunday. 1 2 Centre · 2Barnier said EU members would insist that closer alignment require the UK to accept conditions including the free movement of people, and that there is no "single market à la carte". 1 2

Centre · 2He said: "There will be no possibility to have one freedom and not the other. The four freedoms are clearly the four conditions to be inside a single market." The four freedoms are the circulation of goods, services, capital and people. 1 2 Centre · 2Barnier also said the "door is open" for the UK to rejoin the EU as a member. 1 2 Centre · 2The remarks came after Prime Minister Andy Burnham, who took office in July, said he wanted to explore a closer relationship with the EU. Options include rejoining the single market or the bloc itself, though he has ruled out major changes before the next election. 1 2

Centre · 1The BBC reported that Burnham recently said he would not re-establish free movement without a referendum, and that Downing Street then clarified he was not advocating its return at this point. 1 Centre · 2An EU-UK summit is due in Brussels on 20 November. Both sides hope to announce deals on food and farming standards, youth visas and linking British industry to the EU's emissions trading system. 2 1 Centre · 1Barnier predicted EU countries would reject recreating the UK's budget rebate, first negotiated in 1985. He said Brexit had created "a new situation" and a new rebate would be "off the table". 1

Centre · 1Barnier compared Reform UK leader Nigel Farage to France's Marine Le Pen, citing "the same populism, the same lies, the same false promises". Asked about the lies, he pointed to the Leave campaign's claim that the UK could take back £350m a week, which he called "a lie". 1 Centre · 1The BBC noted that critics call the £350m figure a gross contribution that ignored the UK rebate, and that Boris Johnson has defended it as based on gross contributions. It also noted that Farage led Leave UK, not Vote Leave, and so was not connected to the claim. 1 Centre · 1Farage responded: "It is the same old Barnier - arrogant, out of touch and a bully. He vindicates our decision to leave every time he opens his mouth." 1