9. Wahlperiode Richard TICE

The Brexit Party have voted to abstain on this legislative report. Firstly, we do not believe that a no-deal Brexit would lead to significant job losses. That being said, as the UK would have left the EU by the time this legislation takes effect, and the UK would therefore have no legal obligation to contribute to this fund, the decision should be a matter for the remaining Member States to take as to how they wish this for this fund to be utilised. For this reason, the Brexit Party abstained on this report.

. ‒ The Brexit Party voted against this legislation for access to waters between the EU and the UK because the proposed arrangement is in practice very one-sided: the EU gets far more benefit than the UK and would therefore be able to continue to plunder UK waters, just as it has for decades.

. ‒ Brexit Party MEPs voted against this piece of legislation. This proposal is to allow the UK to continue making full budgetary contributions to the EU in 2020, in the event of a no-deal Brexit. The UK will have to meet a number of conditions such as adhering to a deadline to inform the Commission in writing that payments will be made, that the payment schedule is made on time and into a specific bank account, that the UK allows OLAF and EU auditing of EU funds on its territory.
This will mean the UK can still get EU funding for 2020, that UK entities can bid for most (but not all) EU public tenders, and ensure payments for EU contracts to public and private entities in 2020 continue. However, some rights for the UK will be curtailed such as not having representation on management committees or expert groups.
The Brexit Party voted against as we want a clean-break Brexit to stop making full budget payments to the EU and we believe that the UK Government should make up the shortfall for UK entities and universities that are currently receiving EU funds.