WTM LONDON ®


TRAVEL LEADERS' LUNCH With Brexit still front of mind for many at WTM London, former Belgium PM Guy Verhofstadt shared his expert view.


BREXIT NEGOTIATOR GUY VERHOFSTADT SHARED HIS INSIGHTS AT THE INVITATION- ONLY WORLD TRAVEL LEADERS'


LUNCH ON DAY ONE. The European Parliament’s Brexit negotiator told industry bosses at WTM London that the UK’s departure from the European Union should kick- start deeper integration between the remaining 27 EU nations. Guy Verhofstadt MEP – dubbed the


‘Brexit botherer’ by some in the British media – outlined his vision for a ‘United States of Europe’ at the WTM London Leaders’ Lunch.


He also told delegates that he is looking at the possibility of UK citizens being able to apply for EU citizenship after Brexit, to enable them to retain the rights they currently enjoy. “We want to keep the free movement of people. The single market means free movement of people, goods, services and capital but you cannot just pick one or the other – it must be all of them,” the former Belgian PM said at WTM London.


He explained that the European Parliament agreed with British Prime Minister Theresa May that there should be a transition period so there is no disruption to the economy. Talking about low rates of labour


mobility across Europe, he said there were almost three million job vacancies across the continent – so economic growth rates were lower than the US, where there was much higher mobility. “There is no need to destroy the EU – it needs to be reformed,” he said. “There must be more trading and


more integration, and we need to fix the decision-making process. “We need to make this divorce work


and create certainty for all industries.” The WTM Leaders’ Lunch is a


prestigious invitation-only networking


event with 200 pre-eminent heads of commercial travel organisations. The Belgian MEP was Prime Minister of Belgium from 1999 until 2008, and is now leader of the Group of the Alliance of Liberals and Democrats for Europe (ALDE) in the European Parliament. The MEP is currently charged with leading the European MEPs’ negotiating team, and any deal on the UK’s post-Brexit relationship with the rest of the European Union will have to be ratified by the European Parliament.


WTM London Review 2017 39


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