A senior German MEP has warned that two of the EU’s top Brexit chiefs want to “punish” Britain to stop other countries trying to leave the bloc.
Hans-Olaf Henkel, the vice chairman of the European Conservatives and Reformists Group, urged the UK “not to listen” to Michel Barnier, the EU’s chief Brexit negotiator, and Guy Verhofstadt, the European Parliament’s Brexit coordinator.
It comes as EU and UK officials engage in a third day of talks in Brussels as the two sides seek to hammer out the terms of Britain’s divorce deal.
Mr Henkel raised specific concerns about the UK Government’s plan to withdraw from the Euratom nuclear regulator which critics fear could make it difficult for Britain to access radioactive material for medical treatments post-Brexit.
Mr Henkel, who also serves as the vice chairman of the EU’s Industry, Research and Energy Committee, said many in Europe would welcome a U-turn on that decision.
But he said Mr Barnier and Mr Verhofstadt simply want to “make a mess” of the negotiations in order to discourage other nations from leaving the EU.
Writing in The Times, Mr Henkel said: “If the UK government comes back and says it would like the UK to stay in Euratom, I would say great and so would most of my colleagues.
“As they consider this matter, I would urge them not to listen to Guy Verhofstadt, the European parliament's Brexit co-ordinator, or even Michel Barnier, Europe's chief negotiator, who I am afraid want to make a mess out of this whole unhappy situation.”
Mr Henkel said Mr Verhofstadt is an “ambitious politician who wants to achieve a United States of Europe” and “punish the British, full stop”.
“My impression is that Mr Barnier wants to do the same,” he said.
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. You know, the English basically invented an entire legal system all its own, which many of the former colonies still use to this day (obviously in a modified format).
