katya, you went to see guy verhofstadt, the brexit coordinator.t centre parting on the continent, i think. he's taken to wearing a cardigan now. moving on... he has a greatjob. what did he have to say? he is known as quite excitable and what is interesting is that angela merkel has been quite quiet about this. emmanuel macron has been quiet about this. the irish taoiseach and the deputy prime minister of ireland have been more vocal, as you would expect. we will go into the reservations and why they are not shouting it from the rooftops necessarily. remind us why this guy matters in this whole process. the european parliament matters because, like our parliament, it has a veto over any new brexit deal. so the european parliament has to be on board. if they don't like it, they can say no, and it does not matter if the negotiators in the eu and uk say they are happy with it. the parliament has to be happy as well. guy verhofstadt is a very key figure when it comes to brexit in the european parliament. i asked him question after question and in the e

laughter adam fleming, asking the questions of guy verhofstadt, adam then recorded this a little laterans they want the legislation in the uk to go through every single one of its parliamentary stages, for the european parliament gets involved. officials say, that means it is virtually impossible they will be voting on it at this session in strasbourg this week, which means if the uk is to leave on the 31st of october, the european parliament will have to be recalled for an extraordinary session, at some point next week. they are not ruling out voting on a deal this week, they just think it is really, incredibly unlikely that it will happen. there isa unlikely that it will happen. there is a real sense of frustration, people like guy verhofstadt, european parliament "brexit" coordinator, he seemed really annoyed when he was leaving a meeting today, although not sure if he was annoyed at the journalists for asking him about it again or whether he is annoyed about the whole situation in general. in terms of when it comes to the issue of an extension to the process, that is not a matter f

here's its chair, guy verhofstadt. well, we are very sceptical about this proposal.ainly, it is a repackaging of the old proposals that have already been discussed between the two parties. and so, we are very sceptical. and we think that it is not a serious alternative for the backstop, as has been foreseen. and lest we forget... here's a useful reminder from here's a useful reminderfrom my colleague. both the house of commons in the eu will have to sign off on any agreement. and the eu won't say yes unless ireland says yes. here's its prime minister, who's in sweden. the proposals that have been put forward by the uk are certainly welcome in the sense that we now have written proposals that we can engage on. but they do fall short in a number of aspects. but our objective is very clear — we don't want to see any custom posts between north and south, nor do we want to see any tariffs or restrictions on trade on north and south. they were all abolished in the 1990s, and we don't want to go back to that. the majority of the people in the north don't, the majority of th

negotiator michel barnier said there was progress but lots of work still needed to be done while guy verhofstadt brexit steering group chair, eu leaders want to die just the proposal and many feared it would show the prime minister is focus on a domestic audience, and upcoming general election, not on engaging with the eu. i have spoken to a numberof eu diplomats with the eu. i have spoken to a number of eu diplomats is that some of those proposals were a lot better than expected although they emphasise that very big differences remain between the two sides. the eu has a remain between the two sides. the eu hasa numberof remain between the two sides. the eu has a number of concerns when it comes to the prime minister's offer and the european commission says, before it can think of compromise, it has a number of detailed questions for the government when it has properly digested the paper. the main concern, the big flashing red light, comes down to customs. it fears the proposal can pose a threat to the northern ireland peace process and leave the single market exposed after brexit. two big no—no

guy verhofstadt, who chairs the european parliament brexit steering group, said they were going to recommendhe eu parliament waits until the uk passes the treaty before the vote to ratify it. meanwhile, the highest court in scotland delayed a decision on whether the prime minister has fully complied with a law requiring him to ask for a brexit extension. mrjohnson sent an unsigned leter to the eu asking for the extension at the weekend. but this evening something has happened. the government has announced it will try and pass the bill it needs to turn the withdrawal agreement, which is a draft international treaty, into uk law this week. this bill will be subject to further amendments as it passes through the houses of parliament. the eu withdrawal agreement bill has been introduced in the commons and it will be further to further amendments as it passes through the houses of parliament. again, no 10 hasn't got its way. again, the prime minister's plan to make mps choose, overturned. ministers have been rushing to push things to a conclusion. but is there any chance now we can leave the eu a

i am looking round simply because over my shoulder, guy verhofstadt just what are some of the brexitinator for the european parliament. i asked him to speak to us live, and he told me that all the action is now in london. i think that sums up the picture here. they call brussels the bubble, the functions of the eu, but what has been going on for 50 hours isa what has been going on for 50 hours is a bubble within a bubble. technicians on both sides, if you are not a technician, you're not getting into the three rooms where they are trying to work out the details. and it seems from one eu senior official, they said they are waiting for feedback from london now. so all of the suggestions seem to have credibility that northern ireland stays perhaps within the customs union of the eu, and there are concessions made for the uk perhaps on a future relationship and the consent mechanism, whether or not northern irish people through the parliament, how they get a say on whether or not to stay in the customs union. that seems to be pivotal, we are yet to hear more. european council president d

the european parliament, with the brexit steering group, i would like to think in particular guy verhofstadt says is u ntested, technology which he says is untested, the mood music continuing to be downbeat. let‘s go to our europe correspondent damian grammaticas, who joins me europe correspondent damian grammaticas, whojoins me from brussels. not much positive there. no, not really at all, when you look into the detail, this is michel barnier laying out publicly what they have been saying in private to they have been saying in private to the uk negotiating team in the last few days, since that uk proposal was put on the table, and this is all of the eu objections to that, and they go way beyond, you were just saying it relies on technology, it goes way beyond that, because michel barnier explaining there that essentially what boris johnson explaining there that essentially what borisjohnson is asking them to do was to promise to have no checks on the border and then wait for a system as yet unknown to deal with that, and he sows from the eu point of view, that is simply unacceptable, it cou

meanwhile, the european parliament's brexit coordinator, guy verhofstadt, has described the uk government's. and this assembly, stormont, is not even in place, already for three years they are not in place. so it is a little bit difficult to make a proposal that is depending from the authority that doesn't even exist. and also will maybe not exist in the future. our correspondent, damian grammaticas, is there. the mood music is not good. very, very sceptical. i think what you heard there is the parliament, which isn't a negotiator here, but would have to approve the final deal, but the key thing with the parliament is they can go a bit farther and voice what is perhaps really being thought in the background, where the institutions that is a negotiation area institutions that is a negotiation are a little more concerned about the politics, so they have been welcoming the parliament giving this tough line, saying this is unworkable. i think he said it's not realistic or viable on those two grounds, particularly the idea that there could be a veto for the democratic unionists, which could stop