The EU’s chief Brexit negotiator tonight doubled-down on his insistence that City firms will lose their passporting rights after Brexit, but said there was room for co-operation between the UK and the EU.
Highlighting the importance of financial stability, Michel Barnier said that there would be scope for the EU to consider UK rules as equivalent.
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Speaking in Belgium, Barnier said: “A country that comes out of this very precise framework and its consistent and integrated implementation by the national authorities has the opportunity to diverge but at the same time loses the benefits of the internal market.”
Meanwhile, the government made concessions in its EU Withdrawal Bill, tabling 25 amendments to the legislation after discussion with MPs.
As part of one of the amendments, the UK government has imposed limits on when it can use powers to change EU law once it has been transferred onto the UK statue books.
Minister for Exiting the EU, Steve Baker said: “In bringing forward these amendments today, we’re showing the seriousness with which we take parliament’s views. “