During the European Parliament debate on Brexit, S&D Group President Gianni Pittella spelled out our clear red lines for an agreement.
Watch this video and learn more @ www.socialistsanddemocrats.eu
Transcript of the video:
The integrity of the United Kingdom is at risk.
You wanted to take back control. But control of what?
You promised a better future. But your lies created only chaos.
We will not lie.
This institution is the first to give its response. And I thank my colleague Guy Verhofstadt and all those who worked on this resolution. We are ready to use our veto power if the conditions agreed in this resolution are not respected.
Our priority will be to protect the rights of European citizens who are endangered by Brexit.
It's time to tell some truths.
First: a country outside the European Union will never benefit from the same conditions as a Member State.
We need to discuss the conditions of the divorce; only when we will have made enough progress will we discuss our future relations.
Moreover, we wont accept any sort of blackmail: if someone in the UK wants to use our common security as a weapon of blackmail, we will not accept it.
Second truth: the respect of social, environmental and the fiscal standards of the EU will be a condition for any future agreement with the UK.
We will never tolerate the creation of a mega-tax haven at the doors of our union.
There won’t be any preferential treatment for the City and we will not accept any degradation of workers rights.
Third truth: today peace in Northern Ireland - and this should worry you - is more fragile than ever and we need to preserve it.
Brexit thought us that the European Union cannot be only the sum of national interests united by a single market. We are a community of values, first among them these - solidarity. Brexit must be the occasion to find ourselves united around our common destiny. Thank you.
