Britain could have 'fast track back to EU' after Brexit, says European Parliament chief negotiator

Broadly his current (since at least 2014) vision is:

  • A) Further integration of the Eurozone states

  • B) Opt-outs for further political integration for non-Eurozone states, such as the UK, who don't want to further integrate politically

  • C) Focus on completing the single market (e.g. services and energy markets aren't fully integrated)

That is to say, unlike S&D/EPP he is comfortable with the idea that the non-Eurozone nations aren't really interested in the political union side of things.

I think it's important to point out that integration doesn't necessarily mean centralisation (e.g. the USA and its states or the UK and Scotland/Northern Ireland). Though for the Eurozone it would, indeed, require a fair amount of centralisation, especially fiscally.

What he dislikes is the "pick-and-mix" EU that we currently have, where everyone is supposedly 'committed' to the same goal and yet everyone has a host of opt-ins and opt-outs.

This is what Verhofstadt said before Cameron's re-negotiation.

George Osborne is right to suggest that the EU should continue to focus on better regulation. In recent years, in part thanks to efforts by the UK, there is a growing acknowledgement by the European Commission that “less is more”

Are these the words of someone closed to the UK as a participator in the EU or obsessed with the EU control over things?

/r/ukpolitics Thread Parent Link - msn.com