Speech by President von der Leyen in the plenary of the European Parliament on the Commission’s proposal for a mandate for the negotiation of a new partnership with the UK

This morning, President von der Leyen addressed the plenary of the European Parliament on the Commission’s proposal for a mandate for the negotiation of a new partnership with the United Kingdom. The President said: “We set our sights on the future of our relations with the United Kingdom. And we will enter these negotiations with the highest ambition. Because good old friends like the UK and us should not settle for anything less than this. […] And when we agreed the Political Declaration with the United Kingdom, we ambitioned a zero tariffs and a zero quotas trade relation for all goods. Something we have never ever before offered to anybody else. A new model of trade, a unique ambition in terms of access to the Single Market. But of course, this would require corresponding guarantees on fair competition and the protection of social, environmental and consumer standards. In short: This is plain and simply the level playing field.” You can find the whole speech online.