European Parliament urges more progress in Brexit talks

By Ata Ufuk Seker

BRUSSELS

The European Parliament on Wednesday said sufficient progress had not yet been made in the Brexit deal, especially over rights of citizens and the situation of Ireland.

In a letter by European Parliament Brexit coordinator Guy Verhofstadt to EU negotiator Michel Barnier, the parliament said it had made it very clear from the beginning that protection of the rights of citizens must be absolute and beyond any doubt.

"We clearly recognise that progress has been made since the start of the negotiations, from a system based exclusively on U.K. immigration law to a system that reflects the preservation of EU rights," it said.

But the group insisted there must be “sufficient progress", saying “more progress is needed on citizens rights and even more on the situation on the island of Ireland”.

"It is with great concern that we note that negotiations in this respect are stalled, and even some progress reversed," Verhofstadt said in his letter.

“We trust that you fully share the above concerns and will continue working to address them in negotiations in the coming days, as their satisfactory resolution will determine parliament’s assessment of whether sufficient progress has been achieved,” he said.

British voters opted to leave the EU in a referendum over a year ago. Brexit negotiations are supposed to be finalized by March 2019.

A summit in December will decide if Brexit talks could be taken to a second phase that involves trade issues.