UK could rejoin EU ‘within months’ with ‘Switzerland plus’ deal, MEP says

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A senior MEP has said the UK could rejoin the EU within months if it strikes a deal similar to Switzerland’s agreement, as Andy Burnham seeks closer ties with the bloc.

German MEP Bernard Lange, who was involved in the initial Brexit negotiations , said he would “love to see the UK come back” and lay out a potential speedy route for Britain to rejoin the EU.

He told The Guardian that the UK could follow a similar path to Switzerland, which is not a full member state of the EU but has access to the European single market.

However, Switzerland has agreed to the free movement of people and to pay €375m (£317m) a year into the EU’s economic and cohesion funds to gain access.

Mr Lange, said the framework could also work as a model for the UK, but warned it was “passive”.

“As a step-by-step [process], of course, there are a lot of possibilities, but I would love to have the UK come back also in the political decision-making process and politically be engaged,” he said.

“So we have the model of Switzerland … Switzerland plus, I would say, as that has some kinds of engagement but not the full membership.”

The prime minister announced at Labour’s annual conference last month that he would look at options that would take Britain closer to the bloc and suggested that re-entry into the EU could be included in Labour’s next election manifesto.

His announcement was welcomed by a number of EU leaders, including France’s president Emmanuel Macron and Spain’s prime minister Pedro Sanchez .

In a statement to parliament on Monday, the prime minister said he would use a key UK-EU summit in Brussels next month to push for a Brexit reset aimed at improving relations with the bloc with a focus on growth, immigration and security.

As part of The Independent’s campaign ‘Europe: The Way Back’, polling guru professor Sir John Curtice recently said that support for rejoining the EU was now at its highest level since the Brexit vote , at 61 per cent.

As prime minister Andy Burnham looks at the way ahead for Britain's relationship with Europe, The Independent has been leading the charge, campaigning to secure the absolute best deal for Britain. Become an Independent member for just £1 for six months and join a like-minded community of thousands signed up to our Europe: The Way Back campaign.

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