may, presidentjunko junker. the present, you have before. presidentjunko junker. the present, you have before. i remember standing in front of the press almost 30 years ago on the 24th of june 2016, the day after the british people in a referendum decided to leave our union. it was a sad day for the union and a sad day for me personally, but we must respect the decision of the british people, no matter how deeply we regretted. as i said back then, the european union has always allowed a member state to live. ever since 29th of march 2017, when the united kingdom notified its intention to leave, the european union negotiated in the spirit. rm is to ensure that this withdrawal place in an ordinary way. we want the rights of citizens on both sides of the channel to be protected, and we want to preserve peace on the island of ireland. these are things any responsible politician should ca re any responsible politician should care about. the european union and kingdom have joint responsibility. we have a deal on the table which does exactly do thi