EU laid bare: How Verhofstadt planned to keep UK in transition period for 'THREE years'

After winning a thumping majority in this month’s general election, Boris Johnson added a new clause to the Brexit bill, which will make it illegal for Parliament to extend the process beyond the end of December 2020. The post-Brexit transition period can currently be extended by mutual agreement by up to two years. However, the Commons voted on an amended Withdrawal Agreement Bill last Friday, which will rule out any extension.

Critics say it increases the risk of crashing out of the European Union without a trade deal, as Mr Johnson’s Brexit timetable appears to be very “challenging”.

Speaking at the European Parliament's plenary in Strasbourg, EU Commission president Ursula von der Leyen said that the Brexit transition deadline of December 2020 left "very little time" for the British and European sides to reach a trade agreement.

It follows a similar warning by the new European Commission president last week.

The EU’s comments, though, should not come as a surprise, as according to a new book, the bloc wants to keep Britain in Europe for as long as possible.

Documentary maker Lode Desmet and BBC broadcaster Edward Stourton shadowed Guy Verhofstadt, the European Parliament’s representative on Brexit, for almost two years, to make a documentary and book on the process leading up to the UK’s first scheduled departure from the bloc on March 29, 2019.

The unique access provided an insight into the thoughts and worries of the EU negotiating team and revealed how Brussels really operated.

In their book “Blind Man’s Brexit”, published in September, the authors recalled how Mr Verhofstadt and German MEP Elmar Brok wanted the transition period to last for at least three years.

Celebrating the creation of the Brexit Steering Group (BST) in 2017, which coordinates the European Parliament’s involvement in the Brexit talks, Mr Verhofstadt is quoted as saying:”This is the Brexit Steering Group!

“For two years together… yeah!

“And then the transition period also.

“Again three years. Yeah!”

Mr Brok noted “at least three years”, to which his boss added: “At least!”

During the negotiations, the group met with the EU’s chief negotiator Michel Barnier on a regular basis, and it coordinated the European Parliament’s positions throughout the process.

This month, Mr Verhostadt said the Withdrawal Agreement struck between the UK and EU could be vetoed by Parliament if the issue of citizens' rights is not fully resolved before the UK leaves the bloc.

According to Mr Desmet and Mr Stourton, Article 50 did not say the European Parliament had to be involved in the talk.

Citing Article 50, they wrote: “The agreement shall be negotiated in accordance with article 218(3) of the Treaty on the functioning of the European Union. It shall be concluded on behalf of the Union by the Council, acting by a qualified majority, after obtaining the consent of the European Parliament.”

The authors added:“Those last eight words – after obtaining the consent of the European Parliament – are all that Article 50 has to say on the subject, that the deal at the end of the negotiations has to be approved by the Parliament.

“Verhofstadt exploited the vagueness to his advantage, arguing that if Parliament was to approve the deal in the end, it was only logical that it should, from the start, be able to say what it expected from the negotiations.

“He had to fight hard to be heard.

“His intervention on the subject from the floor of the European Parliament in December 2016 was provocative even by his own standards.”

Mr Verhofstadt is quoted as saying to the European Council: “What they are proposing is ‘Oh simply we go forward with the Brexit negotiations, but without Parliament’.”

Suggesting EU civil servant who do the groundwork for negotiations - pejoratively nicknamed sherpas – could be involved he said: “We can invite Sherpas maybe, but that’s all.

“You are not aware that we have to approve the agreement, at the end.

“You are aware of it. OK, that’s already an enormous step forward.

“I’m going to tell you, it’s time you also involve the Parliament from day one

“Do you want that we open separate negotiations with the British authorities?

“Is that what you want? You can get it, eh. If that’s what the heads of state want, we are going to do it. Parallel negotiations.

"I don’t want it, but apparently the Council wants it.

“Maybe I can give you a famous phrase of Lyndon B Johnson. He said once: Better to have him inside the tent pissing out, than outside the tent pissing in.”

Mr Desmet and Mr Stourton noted: “Verhofstadt was angry that day, but in the end he got what he wanted.”

The European Parliament appointed a Brexit coordinator in Guy Verhofstadt, the leader of the liberal ALDE fraction, and set up a steering group to follow the negotiations on the withdrawal.