The European parliament has overcome attempts to sideline it from the Brexit negotiations and will become a “very difficult partner” during the talks, the leader of its biggest party has revealed.

MEPs in the EU’s 28 member states were furious when the European council last month announced a plan that would have diminished their role during the two years of negotiations.

Under the plan, the former French minister Michel Barnier and the president of the European council, Donald Tusk, were to sit at the negotiating table, leaving the parliament on the periphery.

However, German MEP Manfred Weber, who chairs the centre-right European People’s party, said that following a “good dialogue” with the European commission president, Jean-Claude Juncker, he feels there is now no question of the parliament not being centrally involved.

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Weber told the Guardian: “At the end, the European parliament is the parliament of consent. There are only two parliaments that will say yes: the British and the European parliament. That is why we are in the same position as the British parliament in that colleagues are asking for their positions to be taken on board in the negotiations.

“We are already in a good dialogue with Jean-Claude Juncker on this … We, the European parliament, think that in the next two years we have to be informed and updated on the state of play and that means parliament has to sit on the table as negotiations are going on. That is our expectation.

“I had some phone calls during the Christmas break, with Jean-Claude Juncker I don’t see big problems. It is a matter of fixing the practical arrangements of the involvement for the European parliament now, that is all.”



In a sign of how the European parliament now intends to flex its muscles, Weber has proposed that its newly elected president, Antonio Tajani, invites Theresa May to a debate in the chamber following the triggering of Article 50. A letter sent by Weber to the president of the European parliament seen by The Guardian reads: “In light of the declarations made by Prime Minister May, I would like to suggest inviting the British prime minister to hold a debate with the European parliament at the April plenary session in Strasbourg.

“I trust you share my view that the European parliament will play a crucial role in defending the interests of the European people in the Brexit negotiations.”

The development came as the UK’s supreme court ruled by a majority of eight to three that the government cannot trigger article 50 without an act of the Westminster parliament, opening the government’s negotiating stance to greater parliamentary scrutiny at home.

Facebook Twitter Pinterest Manfred Weber suggested the European parliament would not embrace Theresa May’s vision of a free trade agreement. Photograph: Stephanie Lecocq/EPA

In an ominous warning to Britain, Weber said that while member states might have potentially been able to craft a deal around their individual interests, the European parliament would also now be keen to heavily scrutinise every aspect of the ongoing negotiation and would have “the bigger picture” in mind.

British cabinet ministers have repeatedly suggested that member states, such as Germany, would find it in their interest to agree to free trade in sectors such as the car industry. The foreign secretary, Boris Johnson, was ridiculed when he suggested that Italy would have to offer tariff-free trade in order to sell its prosecco in the UK.

Weber said: “I can imagine the council side is not 100% happy because parliament will be a very independent party of the interests of 440 million west Europeans. That is our job, that we have to do.

“We are not looking first of all for national interests. You can make deals between British and German interests, on an economic basis, and so on, but we have the full picture in mind and it is not an easy task to find and organise a majority.

“That is for sure what the council has understood: that parliament will not be an easy partner in these negotiations. But those are the rules that are in the treaty, those are the rules.”

Weber, an MEP for Bavaria with the Christian Social Union, also insisted Theresa May should recognise that the European parliament has the same right as the Westminster parliament to scrutinise the deal as it is formed. “She knows from the British tradition what an independent and a strong parliament means,” he said. “That is a British tradition. Since 2009 we have an independent and powerful parliament. We will do our job.”

It is understood the European parliament is drafting its red lines for the talks that will be launched following the triggering of article 50 by the British government. They are expected to be announced within weeks.

On Tuesday, the European commission’s chief spokesman, Margaritis Schinas, hinted that any discussion of a free trade deal would only be conducted after Britain had agreed to pay its liabilities, including unpaid budget commitments, pension liabilities, loan guarantees and spending on UK-based projects, leaving a bill of up to €60bn (£52bn). “If one wants to divorce but remain friends ... first one needs to agree on the terms of an orderly separation,” he said. Schinas added that an orderly separation would be where both sides complied with their obligations.

Weber suggested that parliament would not embrace Theresa May’s vision of a free trade agreement, as outlined in her speech earlier this month. “I have even after this speech not a clear picture,” Weber said. “She wants to leave the single market but on the other hand she wants a free trade agreement. That’s only another wording [for the same thing].

“Some call it single market membership, some call it a free trade agreement. It has the same result at the end for our economies. That will not happen, that will not happen.”

Weber added: “I met David Davis [the secretary of state for exiting the European Union] in Strasbourg and he tells me the partnership of universities is great. We have to have a research agreement. He has an interest in an exchange of information in the fight against terror; Schengen and all these things. No one wants to risk any lack of security.

“I listen to them and I ask myself: what is Brexit? You tell people you want to stay in all those fields and you tell people Brexit is Brexit? Parliament will be a very difficult partner for the British side.”