European Parliament
Strasbourg

Image source, EBS

European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker says any future relationship must be durable and not require continual renegotiation.

The integrity of the single market must be maintained, he adds, and there should be no undermining of social and environmental standards.

He also calls for "further clarity" from the UK, adding that with one year to go until Brexit, there is a need to "translate speeches into treaties".

In particular he calls for further British proposals on how to avoid a hard border in Northern Ireland, which he calls a "European issue" not just an "Irish issue".

In response UKIP's David Coburn shouts out that it is a "British issue".

European Parliament
Strasbourg

Image source, EBS

Deputy Minister for Bulgaria's EU Presidency Monika Panayotova says there should be "no backsliding" on commitments made in December's interim deal on Brexit withdrawal issues.

Despite a "succession of speeches" made by ministers, there is a need for "more concrete" proposals for the future relationship from the UK side, she says.

There are "no indications" that the UK's red lines have changes since last year, she adds.

However the future relationship should be "broad", reflecting not just trade but the "commonality of interests" between the EU and UK, she tells MEPs.

Image source, Reuters

The draft text proposes that the future UK-EU relationship is embedded into an association agreement, external to contain an “inflation” of different bilateral deals.

The proposed agreement should cover trade, foreign policy co-ordination, domestic security and collaboration with some EU agencies and programmes, it says.

The overall deal should contain a “robust” mechanism for enforcement, with the EU Court of Justice continuing to interpret matters “related to EU law”, it adds.

It proposes that the UK could continue to participate in the EU satellite system Galileo and co-operate on the sharing of intelligence data.

Good morning and welcome to coverage of this European Parliament plenary sitting in Strasbourg.

First up this morning, European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker and its Brexit negotiator Michel Barnier are in town to debate the latest developments in the Brexit negotiations.

Tomorrow MEPs are voting on an advisory resolution which sets out the European Parliament’s recommendations for a long-term UK-EU relationship.

EU leaders are due to adopt their own version at a summit in Brussels next week. A draft version, external of their guidelines was unveiled last week.