BRUSSELS: The European Union’s chief Brexit negotiator warned Britain Tuesday against undercutting EU rules and regulations that underpin anything from social protections to food security when it leaves the bloc.
Michel Barnier said any attempt by Britain to gain a competitive edge through the use of what is termed “dumping” would jeopardize hopes the country has for a smooth and orderly withdrawal from the EU.
Barnier lauded the rules the EU created together with Britain for 44 years to create the “social market economy” that shelters citizens and workers from excesses of deregulation.
“Does Britain also want to leave that model and go toward regulatory competition — call it dumping — against us,” he asked legislators at the European Parliament in Strasbourg France.
“I recommend that we keep a close eye on the regulatory divergence, this dumping,” he said, warning that it could become a key obstacle if Britain wants to get a smooth exit from the EU.
Key departure conditions will need to be approved unanimously by the EU nations and the European Parliament.
Barnier also urged British Prime Minister Theresa May to speed up the Brexit negotiations and define her vision for the future relationship between the country and the 27 remaining member states. Britain is due to leave the EU on March 29, 2019 but is looking to agree a transition agreement for a period after Brexit in order to smooth out the impact.
That frustration was reinforced by EU Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker, who also told EU legislators that “there is increasing urgency to negotiate this orderly withdrawal.”
Juncker said the EU needs “further clarity” on such issues like a trading relationship and the EU’s only land border with the UK on the island of Ireland.
Barnier added that British expectations were still far too high and that the country won’t be allowed to keep those bits of membership it wants while shedding others.
“It is an astonishing concept to believe that the 27 members and your parliament could accept convergence when the UK wants it and at the same time leave it the possibility to diverge when it give Britain an advantage,” he told the legislators.
Britain has said it no longer wants to be part of the EU’s seamless and tariff-free internal market and the customs union. That’s pushed the EU to consider a traditional free trade association as the best option available to both sides.
Barnier also made it clear that if Britain wanted to remain in some EU agencies like those on chemicals, aviation or medicines, it would also have to recognize the authority of the EU’s top court in those areas.
“You cannot be part of our agencies without the legal commitment to apply EU law and the jurisdiction of the court of justice,” Barnier said.
Overall, he added, “it is time to face up to the hard facts.”
![]()
EU pressing UK to speed up Brexit negotiations
EU pressing UK to speed up Brexit negotiations
Russian pensioners turn to soup kitchen as war economy stutters
SAINT PETERSBURG: Dishes clatter, steam bursts from large cooking pots and music is seeping through the bustling chatter of Russian pensioners, hunched over bowls of free meals in a Saint Petersburg soup kitchen.
The general mood is upbeat but the place, at full capacity, is a testament to financial hardships plaguing an ever-increasing number of Russia’s elderly people, struggling to make ends meet as the country’s war economy stutters.
Nina, a 77-year-old retired engineer, said she could no longer go to the supermarket, getting her lunch and dinner from the soup kitchen instead, as she was not able to afford her own groceries.
“I haven’t been to a shop for three years because I don’t have the money. There’s simply no point in going,” she told AFP, her voice resolute but eyes glistening.
“Should I just go, look around and leave?,” she asked.
The cost of living in Russia — particularly in large cities — has skyrocketed in the four years since Moscow launched its full-scale offensive in Ukraine.
Huge spending on the military helped Russia buck predictions of economic collapse, but has pushed up inflation — a headache for the Kremlin which has aimed to shield citizens from the fallout of its war.
Prices have surged by a combined 45 percent since Russia launched its offensive, according to official data.
And though President Vladimir Putin recently hailed a cooling of inflation amid high interest rates, pensioners in the Saint Petersburg soup kitchen say their situation is still dire.
- ‘Poor boys’ -
On a bright winter day, AFP met former accountants, doctors and engineers turning to the free bowls of soup and pasta on offer.
Zinaida, a 77-year-old former paediatrician, told AFP her pension was 26,400 rubles ($345) a month.
“Over the last two to three years, we have seen food prices rise,” Zinaida said, attributing the surge to raising taxes.
In order to plug holes in Russia’s stretched public finances, the Kremlin has tapped the pockets of its citizens, raising the nationwide sales tax from 20 to 22 percent, starting this year.
For many pensioners like Zinaida, juggling monthly expenses has become increasingly tricky.
“By our age, everyone has a whole load of illnesses,” she said, and the medications were “very expensive.”
“You work just to pay for the utilities and the pharmacy. There is almost nothing left for anything else.”
That sentiment is shared by Anna, 66, who, despite a career as a surgeon, said she struggled to pay her bills in retirement.
“When you go to the pharmacy, you start to wonder if you’ll be able to buy anything for lunch.”
The Central Bank, which has hiked borrowing costs in a bid to tame price rises, expects annual inflation to ease to Moscow’s four-percent target only in 2027.
That is just one of the Russian economy’s worsening indicators as the war in Ukraine drags into its fifth year.
Growth slowed dramatically to one percent in 2025, Putin said earlier this week — down from 4.3 a year prior.
But for Tatyana, a former accountant, “it’s only fair that things should get more expensive.”
“We have this war going, with our poor boys there. May God grant them all good health.”
The general mood is upbeat but the place, at full capacity, is a testament to financial hardships plaguing an ever-increasing number of Russia’s elderly people, struggling to make ends meet as the country’s war economy stutters.
Nina, a 77-year-old retired engineer, said she could no longer go to the supermarket, getting her lunch and dinner from the soup kitchen instead, as she was not able to afford her own groceries.
“I haven’t been to a shop for three years because I don’t have the money. There’s simply no point in going,” she told AFP, her voice resolute but eyes glistening.
“Should I just go, look around and leave?,” she asked.
The cost of living in Russia — particularly in large cities — has skyrocketed in the four years since Moscow launched its full-scale offensive in Ukraine.
Huge spending on the military helped Russia buck predictions of economic collapse, but has pushed up inflation — a headache for the Kremlin which has aimed to shield citizens from the fallout of its war.
Prices have surged by a combined 45 percent since Russia launched its offensive, according to official data.
And though President Vladimir Putin recently hailed a cooling of inflation amid high interest rates, pensioners in the Saint Petersburg soup kitchen say their situation is still dire.
- ‘Poor boys’ -
On a bright winter day, AFP met former accountants, doctors and engineers turning to the free bowls of soup and pasta on offer.
Zinaida, a 77-year-old former paediatrician, told AFP her pension was 26,400 rubles ($345) a month.
“Over the last two to three years, we have seen food prices rise,” Zinaida said, attributing the surge to raising taxes.
In order to plug holes in Russia’s stretched public finances, the Kremlin has tapped the pockets of its citizens, raising the nationwide sales tax from 20 to 22 percent, starting this year.
For many pensioners like Zinaida, juggling monthly expenses has become increasingly tricky.
“By our age, everyone has a whole load of illnesses,” she said, and the medications were “very expensive.”
“You work just to pay for the utilities and the pharmacy. There is almost nothing left for anything else.”
That sentiment is shared by Anna, 66, who, despite a career as a surgeon, said she struggled to pay her bills in retirement.
“When you go to the pharmacy, you start to wonder if you’ll be able to buy anything for lunch.”
The Central Bank, which has hiked borrowing costs in a bid to tame price rises, expects annual inflation to ease to Moscow’s four-percent target only in 2027.
That is just one of the Russian economy’s worsening indicators as the war in Ukraine drags into its fifth year.
Growth slowed dramatically to one percent in 2025, Putin said earlier this week — down from 4.3 a year prior.
But for Tatyana, a former accountant, “it’s only fair that things should get more expensive.”
“We have this war going, with our poor boys there. May God grant them all good health.”
Latest updates
© 2026 SAUDI RESEARCH & PUBLISHING COMPANY, All Rights Reserved And subject to Terms of Use Agreement.