French EU commissioner: Brexit an ‘economic catastrophe’ for Britain
‘Look at what’s going on with store shelves’ and ‘the restocking of fuel,’ says Thierry Breton.
The U.K.'s decision to leave the European Union has resulted in an "economic catastrophe" for Britain, European Commissioner for the Internal Market Thierry Breton said Tuesday during an interview with French broadcaster BFMTV.
"Look at what's going on with store shelves ... with the restocking of fuel ... with the lack of nurses and doctors ... with the truck driver shortage [and] with everything construction. What's going on these days is a disaster," Breton said.
"Consider that after they said they could regain prosperity, which meant to some extent that every EU national would be kicked out — at least a large part of them — well now they need to come back, because nurses are missing. There's 100,000 truck drivers missing ... It is what it is and we deplore it," he added.
The French commissioner also commented on the fishing row between London and Paris, as the French government is reportedly gearing up to announce retaliation measures against the U.K., which granted less than half of the Jersey fishing permits France was asking for.
"We've seen a lot of bad faith from the British," Breton said. "We're used to this game now." He added that "200 permits have been granted, so it's moving forward."
"Look at what's going on with store shelves ... with the restocking of fuel ... with the lack of nurses and doctors ... with the truck driver shortage [and] with everything construction. What's going on these days is a disaster," Breton said.
"Consider that after they said they could regain prosperity, which meant to some extent that every EU national would be kicked out — at least a large part of them — well now they need to come back, because nurses are missing. There's 100,000 truck drivers missing ... It is what it is and we deplore it," he added.
The French commissioner also commented on the fishing row between London and Paris, as the French government is reportedly gearing up to announce retaliation measures against the U.K., which granted less than half of the Jersey fishing permits France was asking for.
"We've seen a lot of bad faith from the British," Breton said. "We're used to this game now." He added that "200 permits have been granted, so it's moving forward."