Gibraltar Chronicle Logo
Local News

JEAN-CLAUDE JUNCKER: BRITAIN WILL STILL LEAVE EU DESPITE 'DENSITY OF PROBLEMS'

File photo dated 31/03/17 of the Union flag and the EU flag flying from the same mast above the Summerhall building in Edinburgh. EU citizens living in the UK are in Brussels to urge members of the European Parliament and Commission to ensure their rights are guaranteed after Brexit. PRESS ASSOCIATION Photo. Issue date: Thursday May 11, 2017. Anne-Laure Donskoy will tell MEPs that EU citizens' rights "to work, to marry, to have access to health services and education, to build a business" are "at risk" and should be "guaranteed and preserved not just for the short or medium term but permanently". See PA story POLITICS Brexit. Photo credit should read: Jane Barlow/PA Wire

Brexit will still happen despite the UK becoming more aware of the "density of problems" during withdrawal negotiations, Jean-Claude Juncker has said.
The European Commission president said he disagreed with the Maltese prime minister Joseph Muscat, who reportedly said last week he saw "hopeful signs" that "Brexit will not happen".
His comments come amid increasing Tory tensions over the Brexit process, with Cabinet ministers publicly disagreeing over the potential terms of a transition phase after Britain's expected exit in March 2019.
Mr Juncker told Politico: "People will become more and more conscious of the density of problems on a daily basis, without always being able to provide a coherent answer to these problems."
But the Commission president said he still expected Britain to leave the European Union.
"I don't go as far as the Maltese prime minister who has not ruled out that it will not come to Brexit," he said. "My working hypothesis is that it will come to Brexit."
In a public Cabinet split last week, Chancellor Philip Hammond signalled that free movement of EU citizens would continue for a three-year transition period in all but name, with an added element of migrants having to register in the UK.
But International Trade Secretary Liam Fox insisted unregulated free movement of labour after Brexit would "not keep faith" with the EU referendum result and that the Cabinet had not agreed a stance on immigration
Shadow Brexit secretary Sir Keir Starmer has suggested Labour could seek to exploit the Tory splits, saying the party will "work with others" to ensure a transition phase including membership of the single market and customs union.

Most Read

Download The App On The iOS Store