EU chief to Brexiter Nigel Farage: 'Why are you here?'

[TomCADem]

Source: CNN

Britain wants to hold off invoking Article 50 of the Lisbon Treaty -- which will officially begin the separation process -- until it knows what a future deal with the European Union will look like. The union wants the opposite, refusing to talk deals until the withdrawal is made official.

German Chancellor Angela Merkel said Britain's separation from the EU was not a "cherry-picking exercise."

"If you want to exist and leave this family, then you cannot expect all the obligations to drop away but privileges to continue to exist," she said.

Italian Prime Minister Matteo Renzi told CNN's Christiane Amanpour that the UK would not be able to belong to the European single market without accepting the free movement of people.

Read more: http://www.cnn.com/2016/06/28/europe/uk-brexit-eu-referendum/

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At the end of the day, despite all the anti-trade rhetoric of the Brexit supporters, it turns out it is all about keeping Brown people out. The UK wants to cherry pick the benefits of the EU, low tariffs and access to markets, but keep any migrants or refugees on the continent.

Is there any doubt that Donald Trump, for all of his anti-NAFTA, default on the debt rhetoric, would simply implement a series of racist, anti-immigrant measures, then call it a day?

[cab67]

1. Good for the EU.

I like the way Angela Merkel put it yesterday - if you want the benefits, you have to take the responsibilities.

[Wellstone ruled]

2. Funny how this whole thing is blowing up

in the face of the Brexit proponents. Britain is now on their way to a Third World Island Nation,and to think , not to many years ago,the sun never set on the British Empire.

[Bernardo de La Paz]

3. Farage said Leavers could have cake & eat it too: exclude immigrants & keep economic benefits.

Must not let suckers fall for such obvious crap (viz. Trump).

[TexasMommaWithAHat]

4. Should we agree to open our borders to

everyone in China in order to have a trade deal with them?

And do we support punishing the Brits for daring to assert their independence?

[TomCADem]

5. Brexit = Free Trade and No Immigration

...so if your question is whether we should emulate Brexit by having EU style free trade zones, but banning all immigration Trump-style, then the answer is no. As for punishing the Brits, we are not a power of the EU. Finally, "you ask, "should we agree to open our borders to everyone in China ..." The U.S. and China do not share a common border:

[TexasMommaWithAHat]

6. Well, since you can't walk to Britain

over land mass from the continent, technically they don't share a border, either.

This is 2016. Air travel has made immigration much easier today.

I don't support banning immigration Trump style. I do support the idea that one does not need to accept immigration as directed by a trading partner in order to trade with that country or union.

It's all about cheap labor. Period.

[TomCADem]

7. What About Banning Free Travel Between States?

The EU was designed to create a federal type system with a single currency that could compete with the U.S. But imagine if Texas residents started to resent people from Louisiana moving into Texas. So, Texas declares its independence, Texit, to control its borders, but insists that when it comes to trade between states, it still be treated like any other State. It is a great deal if you can get it where you can cherry pick the benefits of being part of the U.S., but avoid any of the responsibility.

Also, the great bit of hypocrisy, is that despite decrying free trade, Nigel Farage and Boris Johnson are now insisting that the UK will still have free access to European markets. Just that people in the EU can't freely travel to the UK.

[TubbersUK]

12. There's a tunnel n/t

[pampango]

8. China is not in the EU. Lots of European countries are. Though the far-right in all of them is anti-

immigrant their countries their middle classes are much better off than ours. Blaming immigrants and freedom of movement from France to Germany to the UK for your problems is Trumpian.

Europe and the UK do not need yuuuuuuge internal walls any more than the US does.

And do we support punishing the Brits for daring to assert their independence?

No. Brits have chosen to empower then conservative elites as they will soon discover. If that enhanced 'national sovereignty' for those conservative elites makes them happy despite upcoming conservative effort to eliminate labor and environmental rights then they will be very happy. More conservatives than liberals choose Brexit but they made their choice. They should not be punished by allowed to move ahead.

The EU seems to be trying to get the UK to move ahead quickly with their exit plans but the Brits are stalling at the moment.

[lark]

11. China?

What are you talking about? It's millions of miles away, Mexico or Canada would be a much better comparison and even they are only close to some states, not like Europe at all. Britain wants all the benefits and none of the brown folks, not going to happen. Their leader, Drumpf Jr., lied just like the original lies to us all the time. So far, it's not going well for them, is it?

[reACTIONary]

13. The EU is far, far more than a "trade deal", and .....

..... as to what is and is not reasonable to demand and expect, that is up to the parties involved. If freedom of people is one of the conditions the EU requires (as it does for Norway), then that's their right.

The principles of the EU single market:

The European Union's (EU) internal market, or single market, also known as the European single market, is a single market that seeks to guarantee the free movement of goods, capital, services, and people – the "four freedoms"

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Internal_market

[Sunlei]

9. That's the EU rules for art. 50. And the immigration details EU and UK made in Feb. 2016 -Canceled!

Looked like a very good agreement last February, to bad 'voters' were duped so badly. All the agreements, treaties and EU rules are on their website.

[Denzil_DC]

10. He told the rest of the MEPs that they hadn't done a day's work in their lives.

Farage has been pissing it up at all our expense in the European Parliament for years and not done a stroke of work for his constituents. His only speeches have been drunken tirades against the EU. He doesn't attend meetings he's supposed to, he just clutters up the seats at table that are available.

Nice work if you can get it.