BRUSSELS: European Parliament Brexit chief Guy Verhofstadt warned Tuesday there had not been enough progress in talks so far to move on to negotiations on a future EU-Britain trade deal.
European Union leaders are set to decide at a summit in late October whether talks on divorce issues, including the bill Britain must pay, have made enough headway to start discussions on future relations.
Verhofstadt urged British Prime Minister Theresa May to address the parliament as part of the negotiating process, but another senior MEP warned she would be “out of her depth.”
Verhofstadt, a former Belgian prime minister, told a news conference in Strasbourg, France, where the parliament is meeting: “For the moment we don’t see sufficient progress, clearly.”
MEPs are set to vote on a motion early next month about whether there has been enough progress.
The European Parliament will have the final vote on any Brexit deal when Britain leaves in March 2019.
Verhofstadt said May should give a speech to all 750 members of the European Parliament in public, after she said she would only address its top officials behind closed doors.
Manfred Weber, the head of the largest group in the EU parliament, the European People’s Party, agreed that “the progress is not really that strong.”
“It seems to be that Great Britain is still thinking that they can follow the full cherry picking approach, I think that will not work,” said Weber, a German MEP who is a key ally of Chancellor Angela Merkel.
Brussels insists Britain cannot “cherry pick” benefits of EU membership, such as the single market, while opting out of things it doesn’t like, such as open immigration of European nationals.
It also says Britain — which voted to leave the EU in a referendum last year — must settle the divorce terms first before discussing a future trade deal.
With the European Parliament effectively having a veto on any Brexit deal, its members say Britain needs to do more to convince them.
Greens leader Philippe Lambaerts said that May “gives me the impression of being, to use an English expression, out of her depth.”
“If I was her media consultant I would tell her not to come here because she would have to take more punches than she would be able to give.”
EU Parliament chiefs say not enough Brexit progress
EU Parliament chiefs say not enough Brexit progress
Reforms target sustained growth in Saudi real estate sector, says Al-Hogail
RIYADH: The Real Estate Future Forum opened its doors for its first day at the Four Seasons Riyadh, with prominent global and local figures coming together to engage with one of the Kingdom’s most prospering sectors.
With new regulations, laws, and investments underway, 2026 is expected to be a year of momentous progress for the real estate sector in the Kingdom.
The forum opened with a video highlighting the sector’s progress in the Kingdom, during which an emphasis was placed on the forum’s ability to create global reach, representation, as well as agreements worth a cumulative $50 billion
With the Kingdom now opening up real estate ownership to foreigners, this year’s Real Estate Future Forum is placing a great deal of importance on this new milestone and its desired outcomes and impact on the market.
Aside from this year’s forum’s unique discussions surrounding those developments, it will also be the first of its kind to launch the Real Estate Excellence Award and announce its finalist during the three-day summit.
Minister of Municipalities and Housing and Chairman of the Real Estate General Authority Majed Al-Hogail took to stage to address the diverse audience on the real estate market’s achievements thus far and its milestones to come.
Of those important milestones, he underscored “real estate balance” as a key pillar of the sector’s decisions to implement regulatory tools “with the aim of constant growth which can maintain the vitality of this sector.” He pointed to examples of those regulatory measures, such as the White Land Tax.
On 2025’s progress, the minister highlighted the jump in Saudi family home ownership, which went from 47 percent in 2016 to 66 percent in 2025, keeping the Kingdom’s Vision 2030 goal of 70 percent by the end of the decade on track.
He said the opening of the real estate market to foreigners is an indicator of the sector’s maturity under the leadership of Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman. He said his ministry plans to build over 300,000 housing units in Riyadh over the next three years.
Speaking to Arab News, Al-Hogail elaborated on these achievements, stating: “Today, demand, especially local demand, has grown significantly. The mortgage market has reached record levels, exceeding SR900 billion ($240 billion) in mortgage financing, we are now seeing SRC (Saudi Real Estate Refinance Co.) injecting both local and foreign liquidity on a large scale, reaching more than SR54 billion”
Al-Hogail described Makkah and Madinah as unique and special points in the Kingdom’s real estate market as he spoke of the sector’s attractiveness.
“Today, the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia has become, in international investment indices, one that takes a good share of the Middle East, and based on this, many real estate investment portfolios have begun to come in,” he said.
Al-Ahsa Gov. Prince Saud bin Talal bin Badr Al-Saud told Arab News the Kingdom’s ability to balance both heritage sites with real estate is one of its strengths.
He said: “Actually the real estate market supports the whole infrastructure … the whole ecosystem goes back together in the foundation of the real estate; if we have the right infrastructure we can leverage more on tourism plus we can leverage more on the quality of life … we’re looking at 2030, this is the vision … to have the right infrastructure the time for more investors to come in real estate, entertainment, plus tourism and culture.”
