Mr. Maro? ?efovi:

It is very difficult to characterise my mood in approaching this negotiation because I have the utmost sense of duty and obligation to succeed. I characterise my approach as very realistic. What I mean by that is that if our partners from the UK engage, and I hope that we will see more of it this week, then I am absolutely convinced that we can resolve all the issues which are troubling people on the ground. We can solve the issue of medicine in a durable manner. Our legislative proposal is ready and I can put it on the table this week. However, I still want to do it by taking a joint approach with the UK. If the UK has any additional realistic elements, we are ready to adjust it and to present it. We can solve the issues of market authorisation, batch testing, regulatory functions, cancer drugs, or veterinary medicine - you name it. There was quite heavy lifting. We have an answer, and a good answer, for everything. We really can solve it and, therefore, I hope that the results of the discussion of our technical teams this week will lead to political understanding on both sides. For example, this one is so that we can proceed with the legal process to make sure there will be no gap whatsoever as of 1 January and an uninterrupted supply of medicine. That is the example and litmus test for all of the other files we have on our table. In the same way we solve the medicines issue, we can solve the reduction of checks issue to make sure east-west and North-South trade is smooth. The business community is aware of it because we have been talking to it about what it believes needs to be done, what would help it to operate and benefit from the opportunities the protocol brings, and also how to reduce the nuisances that Brexit brought to Northern Ireland. We are working on both, namely, how to amplify the opportunities and how to reduce the problems created by Brexit. That is the approach and I hope that we will see the engagement from our UK partners.

To be fair to members' colleagues in the European Parliament, the issue of the EU-UK relationship, and especially the protocol, is permanently on the agenda. I am a very frequent guest at the UK co-ordination group, which is a special parliamentary group created for overseeing what we do in our relationship with the UK.

It regularly features in all our discussions and I know that colleagues from national parliaments are very much interested in it. However, in the field of communication and bringing members' unique perspective, they can never overdo it, so I would support their idea to increase the outreach to their colleagues in Europe. It would be extremely useful for their assessment of how the whole trade agreement is seen, especially by the coastal states in the EU, and to discuss it with the Spanish, French, Belgian, Dutch, German and the Nordic colleagues because we share the most immediate issues on the table with these countries, such as fisheries, transportation issues, the checks, and all the things which we are currently discussing with the UK. It would be appreciated from their side. They would definitely welcome members' angle, view and their highlighting how important this is, especially from the peace perspective in Northern Ireland.