Video
Brexit has been a ‘waste of time and energy’, says Juncker
European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker delivers his speech at the European Parliament. (AP Photo/Jean-Francois Badias) - Credit: AP
As his time in the top job comes to a close, Jean-Claude Juncker said it has 'pained' him to spend so much time dealing with Brexit, which he described as 'a waste of time and a waste of energy'.
In one of his final speeches in Strasbourg, the European Commission president said: "In truth, it has pained me to spend so much of this mandate dealing with Brexit when I thought of nothing less how this Union could do better for its citizens."
He added: "A waste of time and a waste of energy!"
The EU official continued: "It took a huge amount of work to arrive at this point. I listened to prime minister Johnson in the same way as I did to prime minister May.
"Once again they have shown creativity and determination."
You may also want to watch:
Juncker said it was down to Westminster to approve the Brexit deal before the EU could ratify the agreement, and warned if a no-deal Brexit happened it would be Britain's fault because the EU had done all it could.
He said: "At least we can look ourselves in the eye and say that we have done all in our power to make sure that this departure is orderly."
Most Read
- 1 Nigel Farage loses nearly 50,000 followers after Twitter suspends QAnon accounts
- 2 Tory minister admits UK rejected EU's music visa offer in order to 'take back control' of borders
- 3 Progressive alliance could see Labour win 351 seats at next election, new analysis reveals
- 4 Bob Geldof takes swipe at No 10 saying 'lying is second nature' to them
- 5 Former Brexit Party MEP dies in diving accident in the Bahamas
- 6 The greatest failure of government in our lifetime
- 7 Boris Johnson blames seafood companies for post-Brexit sales slump
- 8 Jacob Rees-Mogg says it's 'all the EU's fault' musicians can't tour Europe
- 9 What Auf Wiedersehen, Pet teaches us about Britain and Europe
- 10 Priti Patel fails to appear in Commons to answer questions on missing police records
"In the same spirit we have done everything in our power to prepare the EU for all eventualities irrespective of what is happening on the other side of the channel.
"We need now to watch events in Westminister very closely but it is not possible, not imaginable, that this parliament would ratify the agreement before Westminster ratifies this agreement.
"First London - then Brussels and Strasbourg."
"The commission has worked tirelessly to negotiate and renegotiate an agreement with the United Kingdom to respect the UK's decision to leave the European Union."
Become a Supporter
The New European is proud of its journalism and we hope you are proud of it too. We believe our voice is important - both in representing the pro-EU perspective and also to help rebalance the right wing extremes of much of the UK national press. If you value what we are doing, you can help us by making a contribution to the cost of our journalism.
