UK cannot 'cherry pick' EU single market deal, Barnier tells BBC

Figure caption, Michel Barnier says there will be 'no cherry-picking' in a deal for the UK to returns to the EUByPaul Seddon and Matt SpiveyPublished7 November 2026, 13:02 GMTUpdated 1 hour agoThe EU's former Brexit negotiator has warned that the UK cannot "cherry pick" which elements of the single market to which it subscribes, after Andy Burnham said he wanted to explore closer economic ties with Europe.The prime minister has said rejoining the bloc's internal market was among options he could pursue as part of a reshaping of ties since the UK's exit from the EU nearly six years ago.But Michel Barnier told the BBC's Sunday with Laura Kuenssberg that EU members would insist on the UK readopting certain conditions, such as the free movement of people, to gain access.He said there was not a "single market à la carte" menu from which the UK could pick and choose what elements it wanted to adopt.Barnier - who led the EU delegation during Brexit talks between 2016 and 2021, and had a three-month spell as French prime minister in 2024 - said the "door is open" within Europe to the UK rejoining as an EU member.But he insisted that any move to rejoin the single market - which allows for goods to be freely traded without border controls - would require the UK to follow the same terms as other members.He added that this included compliance with regulations designed to promote the circulation of goods, services, capital and people, referred to collectively within EU institutions as the "four freedoms"."There will be no possibility to have one freedom and not the other. The four freedoms are clearly the four conditions to be inside a single market."Since becoming prime minister in July, Burnham has suggested he could commit Labour to pursuing a much closer future relationship with Europe, including asking to rejoin the organisation as a full member, though he has ruled out major changes before the next election.His predecessors have struck a series of deals with the EU on different aspects of how the UK and EU interact post-Brexit.Both sides are hoping to use a meeting in Brussels in 10 days' time to unveil deals on food standards, youth visas and re-linking British industry to the EU's carbon trading regime. Why the prime minister wants to talk about Brexit againPublished13 OctoberOf the four freedoms, the free movement of people - which allows EU citizens to live and work elsewhere in the bloc without a visa - was a key issue during the 2016 Brexit referendum.Burnham's immediate predecessor, Sir Keir Starmer, ruled out re-establishing it for the UK in Labour's 2024 election manifesto and any move to advocate it again would prove a key dividing line with the Conservatives and Reform UK at a future poll.Burnham recently said in an interview that he would not re-establish free movement of people without a referendum, prompting Downing Street to clarify that he was not advocating its return at this point.He has previously said he wanted to lay out "different options" for the relationship with Europe at the Brussels summit later this month, before trying to find a consensus with the British public on a new relationship.Barnier also predicted that EU countries would reject reinstating the British financial rebate, first negotiated in 1985, that lowered UK contributions towards the EU's annual budget while it was a member.The UK's decision to leave the bloc had created "a new situation", he said, meaning a new rebate would be "off the table".'False promises and lies'Barnier also compared Reform leader Nigel Farage to French politician Marine Le Pen. He said: "We have our own Farage. It is Mrs Le Pen. The same populism, the same lies, the same false promises."Asked by Kuenssberg to clarify what he was referring to with his accusation of lies, Barnier said "for instance, when Mr Farage and Mr Johnson promised the UK people to get back [£350] million per week, it was not true, it was not possible. It was a lie".The Vote Leave campaign, of which Boris Johnson became a key figure, has been criticised previously for the slogan on the side of their campaign bus that said Britain sent £350m a week to the EU, adding: "Let's fund our NHS instead". Johnson said in 2017 that "once we have settled our accounts, we will take back control of roughly £350m per week. It would be a fine thing as many of us have pointed out if a lot of that money went on the NHS". Critics have said that the £350m per week was an approximate sum which represents a "gross contribution" and did not take into account the UK's £75m-a-week rebate nor the EU's investments in the UK.Johnson has since defended the claim, saying the £350m was based on the UK's gross contribution to the EU, and was in fact an underestimate as UK contributions were due to rise. ​In his memoirs published in 2024, Johnson said EU money spent in the UK was not "democratically controlled by the British people", and "even if the net figure was only £175m, that was still a hell of a lot of money".Farage, who led Leave UK and was not part of the Vote Leave campaign so not connected to the £350m claim, said: "It is the same old Barnier - arrogant, out of touch and a bully. He vindicates our decision to leave every time he opens his mouth."Get in touchWhat questions do you have?Contact form