EU panic: Now we’re in trouble… Brussels alarm after Boris Johnson landslide

Franziska Brantne, spokewoman for Germany’s Green Party, has said the 80-seat majority win for the Conservatives has put British Prime Minister Boris Johnson in a “strong position” and warned the bloc to be “prepared for the worst”. The landslide victory for the Tories last Thursday has given Mr Johnson a mandate to “get Brexit done” and MPs are expected to begin voting on the Prime Minster’s withdrawal agreement as early as this Friday. Mr Johnson’s Brexit deal is then expected to be finalised through the House of Commons and then House of Lords early next month, ahead of the January 31 deadline.

If the legislation is passed and made into law, Britain will begin the implementation period and have until December 31, 2020 to reach a trade deal with the bloc.

Ms Brantner has anticipated the EU will be put on the back-foot from the beginning and now expects the European Union to receive “nothing” in future Brexit talks.

The Green MP has revealed how ruthless Mr Johnson was in tearing up Theresa May’s withdrawal agreement, which previously failed to get through the House of Commons three times.

The German MP since 2012, said the Prime Minister wanted “no equivalence” with EU regulations when it came to workers rights, environmental and consumer protection standards.

Ms Branter told German radio station Deutchlandfunk: “In the negotiations for the exit contract, Great Britain explicitly pushed for this and unfortunately insisted that worker and social rights are no longer applied to the products that enter the single market via Northern Ireland.

“They absolutely wanted these employment protection and social rights to be cut out of the withdrawal agreement.

“They were still in the first version that was negotiated with Mrs May. There we have the first proof that it was important to him to cut them out.”

She added: “He negotiated just as hard when it came to environmental and consumer protection standards.

“There, too, he wanted no equivalence, no longer wanted to say that the current ones continued to apply forever in Great Britain.

“The point is not even that Britain should adapt when the European Union steps up its environmental and climate protection measures, but only to maintain the status quo. Even that was extremely difficult.”

Ms Branter has offered some advise to EU officials heading into negotiations with Mr Mr Johnson, she said: “I think you have to be prepared for the worst and don’t go in naively at all.

READ MORE: Not another Brexit delay! Von der Leyen cites ‘challenging’ timeframe

The Prime Minister’s spokesman said: “We plan to start the process before Christmas and will do so in the proper constitutional way in discussion with the Speaker.”

Asked if the legislation would be identical to that introduced in the last parliament, the PM’s spokesman said: “You will have to wait for it to be published but it will reflect the agreement that we made with the EU on our withdrawal.”

Additional reporting by Monika Pallenberg.