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Michel Barnier briefed today the Parliamentary Committee on Foreign and European Affairs on the the consequences of a hard Brexit.
"From the evidence presented to us by Mr Barnier, it is a very complicated development that will affect virtually all European countries, but it will have a detrimental effect on Britain itself", said the Chairman of the Committee Giorgos Lillikas.
Lillikas said that apart from trade and the free movement of people and goods, there are major unresolved issues that will take much more effort to resolve if Britain's exit comes without an agreement.
For Cyprus, Mr Lillikas said that in the event of a hard Brexit, this would require separate negotiations on the rights and freedoms of Cypriot citizens living in the British bases, trade relations, tourism, and the issue of Cypriot students in the UK as well as the 250,000 Cypriots living permanently in the United Kingdom.
Member of the Committee Nicos Tornaritis said that Barnier expressed the view that in the event of a hard Brexit the EU and the UK will be taken back forty years.
For the status of Cypriot citizens living in the British bases, Mr Tornaritis said that there have been discussions between the Cypriot government and the UK "and it is true that they have nothing to worry about the almost ten thousand of our compatriots, who are living in the territory of the British military bases", he said.
