The European Union's chief negotiator has said that the UK can rejoin the EU any time. Speaking on Peston Michel Barnier said the door 'remains open' for Britain to go back into the EU.
The clip which was posted on Twitter sparked a big reaction with many saying our return is inevitable given the economic impact Brexit is causing. Speaking on the ITV Robert Peston show Mr Barnier said they the issue would also be on what ground the UK would rejoin.
He said: "The door is open any time. I always say that during the negotiation and after negotiation, the door remains open. To be clear, the UK government, the current government, the next government knows exactly what are the terms and the conditions to be part of the single market to be part of the customs union to join the EU.
"The point is to know what would happen during this time. How far what would be the size of divergence between us and a new country. So this is a point."
Mr Barnier has previously said that he would like the two sides to work together urgently to build a new partnership, including an agreement on defence and security co-operation. He has always insisted that rejoining would be a matter for the British people to decide.
He previously said: “It is not for me to give advice to say you have to join or not to join. It will be your choice, the choice of your leaders, the choice of your MPs. It will be your choice and your sovereign choice, exactly as Brexit has been the choice of the UK people.
“The door on the EU side will remain open any time – for you and some others. If Switzerland or Norway were to change, the door is open. Everybody knows the conditions.”
On Twitter some commentators were sceptical about the appetite of people to go back. Leon said: "Of course the UK can apply to rejoin at anytime. Whether it’s accepted or not is another matter. People are needlessly getting overly excited by this, and are only setting themselves up to be disappointed."
Nick Tyrone added: "Barnier, the man who negotiated the terms of Brexit from the EU side, saying here clearly that the UK can rejoin the EU anytime, debunking the naysayers on both sides of the European debate in Britain who say the EU would never let us back in."
Cheksumday said it would be more difficult than people might imagine: "Much as it's reassuring to hear these words from Michel Barnier, he is not the EU. The EU has a process for joining, and I'm reasonably certain that consulting the opinion of Mr. Barnier isn't part of that."
