Thank you, Mr President. Dear Ministers,
 dear Colleagues.
The order of the day concerns the Draft Law of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs
with regard to the UK's withdrawal from the EU.
Most of the articles speak of a no-deal Brexit.
This text clearly echoes
the most hard-lined voices of the EU,
who are in favour of short-sighted and not majority oriented policies,
thus favouring the European oligarchy, which leads to
reinforcing Europopulism and the Extreme Right
in the UK and elsewhere.
At the same time, the post-Brexit situation remains unclear.
DiEM25, the pan-European movement for democracy,
to which MeRA25 belongs,
has had a detailed position on this matter since 2016,
and is conscious of the meaning of such a position
with strong regional roots as mentioned earlier by our General Secretary,
wholeheartedly supported the Remain side, during the 2016 Referendum.
We insisted on focusing on the false dilemma
between a Brexit reinstating democracy within Britain
and remaining in a non-democratic EU,
while David Cameron was trying to convince the British people
that they could still be important player in the EU market,
by being an inward-looking, sovereign nation-state.
It remains to be seen, whether this promise can be kept.
We believed then, and we still do, that Britain
must remain in the EU
and unite itself with other voices
which are contributing to the democratisation of the institutions and practices in the EU.
A no-deal Brexit would only accelerate the process of European disintegration.
DiEM25's campaign brought together people of various ideological backgrounds.
People supporting different political parties guided by
the hope that we can change things through unity
and not through prejudice or fear.
However, the British voted to leave the EU.
DiEM25, being a democratic movement, began discussing the matter
and many ideas were put forward.
Through a Europe-wide vote, we came to the conclusion
that a transitional period,
of up to five or seven years, is necessary.
During that period, the UK and the EU
would be able to become more progressive.
We can only respect the result of the Referendum.
Trying to overturn it via a second referendum,
would equal what the EU did to Ireland through the Lisbon Treaty.
That is, repeating the same question until the correct answer is given.
Since the people decided exiting the Union,
an orderly transition would be needed,
to ensure economic stability
and to support EU nationals living in the UK,
as well as British nationals living outside of it.
With all the above taken into account our position is clear.
The people's verdict should be respected,
without demonising voters.
An orderly withdrawal from the EU has to be made certain,
with the fewest possible implications.
The British people must be able to determine
their country's post-Brexit relations with the EU.
Following the activation of Article 50,
the political context and the referendum,
the tension has been rising steadily in Britain.
Our DiEM25 comrades in the UK all agree to the same thing.
They believe that Boris Johnson wants to destabilise Britain's economy,
to privatise parts of the public sector
and to suspend rights and state provisions,
turning the UK into a neoliberal heaven on earth.
This neoliberal wave,
has to be faced by voices which will keep repeating
that more time is needed.
A more democratic process is needed
for the sake of both the UK and the EU.
One would ask: Why did MeRA25
support Remain anyway,
if the EU is slowly collapsing, as we say?
Yes, we do believe that the EU is under a process of disintegration.
But we also think that we should keep fighting
to improve the current situation.
Moreover, we starkly reject the outdated idea of nation-states.
The economic, financial and diplomatic consequences of this idea are unthinkable.
These are the reasons we supported Remain.
Dear Colleagues, considering the possibilities
of the post-Brexit era are many,
and the 2016 referendum,
we are suggesting, as Yanis Varoufakis said earlier,
a status similar to that of Norway.
That is, a "soft Brexit"
retaining membership in the European Single Market and the customs union.
We believe that this is the best solution,
as it includes an orderly Brexit and respects the verdict of the referendum.
By the time this process will be completed,
the British will already know,
that they will have assisted
the realisation of our goal,
as this very goal is described in our manifesto,
that is, making Europe more tolerant, a time-proof, progressive Union,
where decision making will be truly democratic.
