European Parliament Moves to Block Talks Unless EU Courts Remain Supreme and UK Pays More

The European Parliament has moved to block Brexit talks progressing onto trade, demanding European Union (EU) courts retain power on British soil after Brexit and the UK pays an even higher ‘divorce bill’.

MEPs have drafted a resolution that opposed Theresa May’s plea for negotiations to move onto trade, claiming she and the UK have not seceded enough ground to European Union (EU) demands.

The resolution commands EU leaders to not budge unless there is a “major breakthrough” on the so-called Brexit ‘divorce bill’, citizen rights, and the Irish border in the next three weeks.

The parliament, the EU’s legislative arm, has a veto on the Brexit process and MEPs will vote on the resolution on Tuesday.

The resolution, circulated to MEPs, also insists the European Court of Justice’s (ECJ) “jurisprudence is directly applicable and enforceable in the UK in order to guarantee the coherence and integrity of the EU legal order,” Bloomberg reports.

The “ECJ must remain the sole and competent authority for interpreting EU law and the withdrawal agreement,” the paper adds, and the “transition can only be envisaged under the full jurisdiction of the European Court of Justice”.

During her speech in Florence last week, Prime Minister Theresa May made it clear she supports a “transition period” after the UK leaves the EU in 2019, and said the UK will pay “financial obligations” reported to be £30 billion.

However, on Wednesday, it was reported that the EU’s ballooning pensions liabilities for bureaucrats in Brussels could push the bill up by a further £10 billion.

Brexit Secretary David Davis hit back during a Sunday interview on the BBC. He said: “I mean firstly in 2019 we will leave. We’ll come out from under the jurisdiction and the law-making of the European Union.”

However, Michael Barnier, the European Commission’s chief negotiator, also this week reiterated his position that his team will block talks on a trade deal with the UK unless a commitment to cover supposed budget liabilities, including pensions, is made.

In a statement last Thursday, UKIP’s interim leader Steve Crowther condemned the EU’s negotiating tactics, insisting the bloc was holding the UK to “ransom”, forcing Britain to “buy the right to continue negotiating”