Yahoo News EU officials mock Britain with anti-Brexit Tintin poster on wall of Brussels war room
Europe’s top Brexit officials have made clear their view of Britain’s bleak prospects in the forthcoming Article 50 negotiations by hanging a mocking poster on the walls of their Brexit war room.
A Brussels source spotted the satirical poster hanging framed on the walls of the European Council’s Brexit task force meeting room.
The picture, a mocked up Tintin book cover entitled “Tintin and the Brexit Plan” became a social media meme earlier this year among remain supporters.
The image reflects the view among many top EU officials that Brexit is an act of economic self-harm by the UK that will become apparent in the course of the negotiations.
Many top EU officials and political leaders still hope that Britain might yet decide to think again about Brexit when confronted by the economic trade-offs that come with leaving the EU single market and rejecting the jurisdiction of the European Court of Justice.
“If the ship is sinking, is it not only natural to call for rescue?” said one senior EU diplomatic source. “We are still not giving up hope that the United Kingdom decides not to leave us.”
Next Wednesday Theresa May will trigger Article 50, formally notifying Donald Tusk, the president of the European Council, that Britain intends to quit the EU.
The European Council, which corrals the EU heads of government, will then respond with a statement, setting guidelines and a detailed mandate for the two-year negotiation.
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While Britain hopes to secure the outlines of a future trade and security relationship with Europe, the EU has said it wants to nail down the terms of the UK-EU divorce settlement - including demands for as much as £50bn - before talking about the future.
This week Jean-Claude Juncker, the European Commission president, warned that Britain may have to abandon its hopes of a trade deal if it rejects the terms offered by the EU. The UK will have "the choice to eat what's on the table or not come to the table at all", Mr Juncker said in an interview with Bild am Sonntag, the German tabloid.
Mr Juncker added that the choices forced on Britain by Brexit will bring the other 27 EU member states closer together, as they will "realise it's not worth leaving".
Putting aside the deep divisions among EU member states on immigration, the euro and social policy that have been on display in recent months, Mr Juncker said Brexit would spur a rebirth of the European project among chastened remaining members.
"They will all see from the UK's example that leaving the EU is a bad idea. On the contrary, the remaining member states will fall in love with each other again and renew their vows with the EU,” he said.
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