European Parliament
Strasbourg

Centre-right French MEP Franck Proust says the EU has managed to protect its red lines in the talks so far and congratulates Michel Barnier.

He should make sure second-stage talks "serve the interests of Europe" - and says the UK must not be allowed to become a "Trojan horse for foreign investment" into the EU.

A Spanish MEP from the same political group, Esteban Gonzalez Pons, says agreement on withdrawal issues is "only the beginning".

Success will be in achieving a Brexit that "doesn't look like Brexit", he adds.

European Parliament
Strasbourg

Labour's leader in the European Parliament, Richard Corbett, says UK ministers are still to discuss the final outcome "they actually want".

He predicts that the UK will "probably not" be more prepared for the second stage of negotiations than for the first.

He says the interim agreement on citizens' rights still leaves people "facing uncertainty" - and that unlike with the Irish border, the UK commitments in this area depend on a final deal being done.

"Do not pretend that the first stage issues are settled," he adds.

Image source, EPA

The motion recommends that the next stage of talks should focus on “finalising” withdrawal issues and a possible transition arrangement.

The UK should “automatically apply” new EU laws adopted during the transition period, it says.

The EU’s future relationship with the UK should include trade relations as well as co-operation over security and foreign policy issues, it recommends.

However a deal on future relations should only be “formally negotiated” after the UK has left the EU, it adds, and be dependent on the UK’s “adherence” to EU law in the following areas:

• the environment and climate change
• consumer protection
• tax evasion and avoidance
• data protection and privacy
• social and workers’ rights

European Parliament
Strasbourg

German conservative Hans-Olaf Henkel says Brexit is hitting the EU "at least as much" as Britain.

It also puts "sophisticated supply chains" in danger, he says.

The EU will also miss the influence of the UK's MEPs in the European Parliament, he adds, who have been advocates of "freedom, autonomy and competitiveness".

European Parliament
Strasbourg

Former UKIP leader Nigel Farage says that the EU side "didn't need" to make many concessions to Theresa May, whom he brands "Theresa the appeaser".

The Prime Minister has "danced to your tune all the way through", he says.

Agreeing to grant EU citizens in Britain family reunion rights means that "frankly open-door immigration will continue".

The transition deal is the "biggest deception yet", he says, and means that in March 2019 the UK will have left the EU "in name only".

Millions of pro-Leave voters are feeling frustrated, he adds, and are "perhaps even now moving to the point of anger".

European Parliament
Strasbourg

Green/EFA group co-leader, German MEP Ska Keller, says there have been "steps forward" on Brexit as well as other areas.

However she says that the agreement was "put into question" in London over the weekend.

If the EU cannot be sure that future agreements are "actually going to hold" then it will put "major strain" on any future relationship, she adds.

She also says the agreement to avoid a hard Irish border is "nice" but doesn't clarify how this is actually going to be achieved.

European Parliament
Strasbourg

Guy Verhofstadt, who also leads the Liberal ALDE group, also criticises Mr Davis's recent comments, which he describes as "unfortunate".

He calls for the negotiators to start drafting the terms of last week's interim deal into a legally binding withdrawal agreement in "the coming weeks".

He says it is clear from letters he has received from EU citizens that "nobody seems to trust the Home Office" not to compromise rights with "enormous" administrative burdens.

Citizens' rights will mean nothing if the people affected are "drowned in red tape", he adds.

European Parliament
Strasbourg

Brexit-backing Conservative MEP Syed Kammall, a co-leader of the ECR group, says last week's deal means the negotiations are "looking to the future" rather than the past.

Although there will be various groups who haven't got all that they wanted, he says, the "everyday reality" of dealmaking requires concessions to reach agreements.

Brexit should not change common interests the UK has with the EU, such as in the areas of trade and co-operation on security, he adds.

European Parliament
Strasbourg

German Christian democrat MEP Manfred Weber, who leads the centre-right EPP group, says Mr Davis's remarks over the weekend were "not helpful" for building trust.

He calls on Theresa May to "clarify" at the summit tomorrow that last week's commitments were indeed binding.

He says that whilst in 1921 the UK was able to "easily set the terms" of the Anglo-Irish Treaty, the Brexit talks have shown that Ireland is "much stronger because it belongs to the European Union".

"We all are Irish, that is the main message", he adds.

Image source, AFP/GETTY

Yesterday the Parliament's chief Brexit spokesman Guy Verhofstadt accused UK Brexit Secretary David Davis of harming "good faith" in the talks with remarks over the weekend.

It came after Mr Davis suggested on Sunday that the deal unveiled by Theresa May last week amounted to a "statement of intent" rather than a binding agreement.

Mr Davis said he was quoted out of context.

Mr Verhofstadt has tabled two amendments, external to today’s draft motion, one of which says Mr Davis's comments risk undermining "the good faith that has been built during the negotiations".

The other calls on the UK to "fully respect" last week's Brexit deal and ensure it is "fully translated" into a draft withdrawal agreement.

The amendments have been signed by five political groups – meaning they are both likely to be added to the motion at the vote later.

European Parliament
Strasbourg

European Commission Brexit negotiator Michel Barnier says last week's interim deal marks a "very important phase" in the negotiations.

Last week's deal will send a "message of confidence" to people worried about the future, he says.

There will be "no going back" on the progress decision, he says - and the terms of last week's agreement will be translated into a legally binding withdrawal agreement, he adds.

Respecting the points in the deal is a "prerequisite" for "continuing the negotiations in a smooth fashion", he adds.

The negotiations are "not at the end of the road" on the matter of citizens' rights and other issues, he adds.

European Parliament
Strasbourg

European Commission deputy chief Frans Timmermans says the EU should make use of better economic growth to complete plans to strengthen the banking sector.

He says he will count on the European Parliament for its support on future reforms of the eurozone.

He says he "firmly disagrees" with the view that the EU's migrant quota scheme has been ineffective, and calls for a "comprehensive European approach".

European Council President Donald Tusk took this view in a letter to EU leaders, external circulated yesterday.

European Parliament
Strasbourg

On behalf of the Estonian EU presidency, Estonia's deputy minister for EU affairs Matti Maasikas says that EU states are "getting very close" to moving Brexit talks onto the next stage.

Last week's interim deal was a "significant move" from the UK and a "solid agreement", which the EU leaders should welcome, he says.

However he says that withdrawal issues are not fully finalised and progress on transition talks will continue to depend on respecting what has already been agreed.

Image source, European Parliament

The draft motion, external to be voted on later calls for:

• all citizens’ rights to be extended to “future partners” of EU and UK citizens
• the application process for UK settled status to be free of charge
• EU court decisions over citizens’ rights to have a “binding character”
• British citizens in living in Europe to keep free movement rights across “the whole EU”
• guarantees that commitments on the Irish border are “fully enforceable”

Hello and welcome to coverage of this plenary sitting of the European Parliament in Strasbourg.

MEPs will shortly be joined by European Commission Brexit negotiator Michel Barnier to debate last week’s interim deal on withdrawal issues between the UK and the EU.

Later today MEPs will vote on a draft motion which recommends that EU leaders should now agree to move to talks on the future relationship at a summit starting tomorrow.

However the resolution also sets out a number of demands on “outstanding issues”, notably in the area of citizens’ rights.

The European Parliament is not participating directly in the negotiations but it will have to ratify the final deal for it to come into effect.