Juncker: The UK will “regret” Brexit

European Commission president Jean-Claude Juncker has warned that the UK will “regret” Brexit.

Speaking to the European Parliament, Juncker said that the UK’s departure from the EU in March 2019 would be “when you will regret your decision”.

Met with cheers from Eurosceptic MEPs, Juncker emphasized the importance of Brexit negotiations and the “increasing urgency” needed to finalise the terms of the UK’s departure.

Warning the UK, the European Commission president said Britain would not be able to cherry-pick throughout Brexit talks.

“I would rather have preferred Britain not to have decided to leave the European Union, but anyone who leaves the European Union has to know, frankly, what this means,” he said.

“If you decide to jettison, leave behind, the common agreements and rules, then you have to accept that things cannot remain as they are.”

Responding to Juncker’s speech to the European Parliament, the former UKIP leader Nigel Farage accused the European Commission president of trying to “bully” the UK.

“Mrs May, we did not vote for a transition period, we voted to leave this organisation, we voted to leave the customs union, we voted to leave the single market.

“Please Mrs May, at this summit next week, do what [Donald] Trump has done – stand strong against the European Commission, against the unelected bullies,” he added.

Juncker has called on May for more clarity about the UK-EU relationship post-Brexit.

“It’s obvious that we need further clarity if we’re going to reach an understanding on our future relationship,” he said. “It’s now time to translate speeches into treaties, turn commitments into agreements, and to move from the soundbite, broad suggestions and wishes on the future relationship to specific, workable solutions.”

Brexit negotiations are currently centred around the Irish border issue, where the Irish prime minister has rejected ideas of a post-Brexit pre-registration.

Speaking from the US, the Irish Prime Minister did not accept ideas from the new research paper on smart border technology commissioned by the European Parliament. 

“No, it is not a solution that we envisage,” he said.