About: Guy Verhofstadt Archives

Prime Minister Theresa May always said she would be "ambitious" in negotiating Britain's exit from the European Union, and government documents published this month show the scale of that ambition - wanting the closest of ties without the costs.

The European Parliament’s political leaders and Brexit Steering Committee members condemn the UK’s “damp squib” of an offer on the rights of EU citizens and insist they will refuse to endorse a Brexit deal that strips EU citizens of their acquired rights.

London and Brussels clashed yesterday (26 June) over future residency rights for millions of Europeans as Britain outlined post-Brexit proposals that included a special new status for EU immigrants.

European Commission deputy chief Frans Timmermans said Thursday (15 June) that he would welcome Britain back into the EU "with open arms" if it reconsidered its decision to quit the bloc.

The EU will keep the door open for Britain to return, but only on worse terms than it currently has, European Parliament Brexit negotiator Guy Verhofstadt said Wednesday (14 June).

Emmanuel Macron's start-up political party on Thursday (11 May) announced a list of 428 candidates for French parliamentary elections in June, a move likely to shake up French politics. In Brussels, the liberal ALDE group hopes En Marche! will join its ranks.

Spain is likely to wield a veto over any Brexit deal for Gibraltar after the EU-27 backed Madrid in its draft negotiating guidelines for forthcoming divorce talks between the UK and the bloc.

EU institutions and governments discussed the need for additional time before negotiations for Britain’s exit from the EU start, in order to complete the new bilateral association agreement.

European Union member states questioned on Wednesday (29 March) the legality of a European Parliament move to open up the possibility that Article 50, the legal process taking Britain out of the EU, could be reversed. Diplomats told euractiv.com that by …

The US yesterday (16 March) condemned once again Russia's Crimea annexation, vowing to maintain sanctions until Moscow returns the Black Sea peninsula to Ukraine. The EU prolonged personal sanctions and the European Parliament passed a resolution supporting the territorial integrity of Ukraine.

European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker held out a lifeline that a post-Brexit Britain might one day want to rejoin the EU, at the close of a two-day European summit where, for once, it was the Polish not the British who were in a minority of one.

In the wake of Brexit and the rise of populism, EU lawmakers and municipal leaders gathered on Tuesday (7 March) to discuss potential strategies to defeat Euroscepticism.

Bulgarian MEP Peter Kouroumbashev (S&D) has compared ideas for a two- or multi- speed EU, advocated by the European Commission, to apartheid, arguing that such projects would ultimately destroy the Union.

We have to change NATO from a defence pact to tan offensive pact, Andrej Babiš, the Czech minister of finance, who also serves as deputy premier, told Euractiv Poland.

Former UKIP leader Nigel Farage expressed anger at the European Union in a heated debate this morning (14 February). Farage stated that leaders are ignoring the true wishes of Europeans.

Lawmakers clashed today (14 February) as they sought to brush out a vision for the 27-country bloc after Brexit, opening a breach between those wanting to maintain a united and integrated club and those who prefer moving towards a two or multi-speed Europe.

The European Parliament’s chief Brexit negotiator has accused British eurosceptics of destroying Winston Churchill’s legacy by taking the UK out of the EU.

The three major “pro-European” groups in the European Parliament, the centre-right European People’s Party (EPP), the centre-left Socialists and Democrats (S&D), and the ALDE liberals, have taken the position that the EU should reject Ted R. Malloch as US ambassador to the EU.

An Alliance of Liberals and Democrats (ALDE) MEP has accused Catalan leader Carles Puigdemont of using "lies" and "propaganda" to organise a conference at the European Parliament this evening (24 January) on the planned independence referendum. EURACTIV Spain reports.

The decision of former European Parliament President Martin Schulz to return to national politics came as a “relief” for the Socialists and Democrats (S&D) who now have their hands free to forge alliances with political parties on the left, S&D sources told EURACTIV in Strasbourg.

British Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson compared Brexit negotiations to World War Two “punishment beatings” on Wednesday (18 January), just 24 hours after Theresa May had warned about “hyped up media reports making it harder for us to get the right deal for Britain”.

Guy Verhofstadt’s support dragged Italian conservative Antonio Tajani over the line in the European Parliament’s presidential election yesterday (17 January). This is a dark signal for a Europe in crisis. EURACTIV’s partner La Tribune reports.

European leaders applauded Theresa May for providing clarity by finally outlining her plan for a clean break with the EU, but said she needed to be realistic about the price Britain would pay for leaving.

Following intense political negotiations, centre-right European People’s Party (EPP) candidate Antonio Tajani was elected this evening (17 January) as president of the European Parliament.