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European leaders cautiously welcomed a new Brexit deal between the U.K. and the EU. However, British Prime Minister Boris Johnson still needs Parliament to approve the deal, which was announced on Thursday.
The Democratic Unionist Party, whose support may be crucial to Johnson winning the support of MPs, has refused to back the deal.
MarketWatch is rounding up the latest reaction to the news from politicians and economists across Europe.
Emmanuel Macron, president of France: “We had good news this morning with the finalization of the agreement which appears to be positive for the European Union and the British side. Now we have to go through the next steps, we have to be reasonably cautious.”
Angela Merkel, German Chancellor: “There has been movement in recent days, significant movement…so we are on a better path than before but, today I must say very clearly, we have not reached the goal yet,” Merkel told Germany’s Bundestag lower house of parliament.
Guy Verhofstadt, European Parliament’s spokesman on Brexit : “I regret #Brexit, but if it is to happen, this is a balanced agreement. Let’s see if Mr. Johnson can find a majority in the House of Commons. If so, we will scrutinize the deal in the @Europarl_EN. The ball is in the camp of the members of parliament on both sides of the channel.”
Simon Coveney, Irish deputy premier: “It is a new deal. It is a deal that recognizes all of the issues that we have been raising for the last three years. It is a deal that will protect people on this island, it will protect peace on this island, it will protect trade on this island, and it will ensure there are no checks.”
Xaver Bettel, Prime Minister of Luxembourg, said he was the one who always wanted to have a deal. “No deal is bad for all of us. So a deal is good.”
Mark Rutte, Dutch Prime Minister, said the news was “very encouraging,” but stopped short of saying whether he would back the proposed deal at this stage. “We have to study the details,” he added.
Heiko Maas, German foreign minister: “The deal is proof that we all worked very responsibly together.” He said it was a “diplomatic feat” but said it still needed to be discussed by both EU leaders at their summit and the European Parliament.
Vítor Constâncio, Portuguese economist and former vice president of the European Central Bank: “On substance, I have to trust Michel Barnier when he says the deal fully protects the single market. However, not knowing details, I don’t understand some points: 1) How exactly the system of choosing between two different tariffs at the sea border will work, according to the final destination of the goods being only Northern Ireland or being re-exported somewhere else”.
Micheál Martin of Northern Irish political party Fianna Fáil: “What I would say to the DUP is that in no way does this arrangement undermine the constitutional status of Northern Ireland.”
Nicola Sturgeon, Scottish First Minister, said in a series of tweets: “For Scotland, this deal would take us out of EU, single market and customs union — all against our will. It would leave us as only part of U.K. being taken out without consent and with no say on future relationship. The SNP won’t vote for that.”
