UK will be locked out of Europe's policing and security databases after Brexit, EU’s chief negotiator says

Michel Barnier says UK government needs a dose of 'realism' about what is possible after Brexit

Britain will be locked out of EU policing and security databases after Brexit, the bloc’s chief negotiator has confirmed.

Michel Barnier said the UK would also lose access to the European arrest warrant and that UK representatives would no longer have a role in managing agencies such as Europol and Eurojust.

In a speech in Vienna Mr Barnier said the British government needed a dose of “realism” about what would be possible on security cooperation after the UK leaves the bloc.

The chief negotiator said EU security cooperation was based on “trust”, but said: “This trust doesn’t fall from the sky, there is no magic wand. This trust is founded on an ecosystem … If you leave this ecosystem you lose the benefits of this cooperation.”

Mr Barnier said the EU’s position had been developed after talks between the 27 other member states in recent weeks.

“It is particularly hard to speak about what will no longer be possible, but I have to speak the truth,” he told the audience at the European Union Agency for Fundamental Rights in the Austrian capital.

“The UK decided to leave the EU, I regret profoundly the decision, but it is a democratic decision and we have to respect it. Now we are working towards an orderly withdrawal.

It is particularly hard to speak about what will no longer be possible, but I have to speak the truth

Michel Barnier, EU chief negotiator

“If we want to build a new relationship, we need a basis of good will, a basis of confidence between us – but we also need more realism about what is and what is not possible.”

Turning to Britain, he added: “They try to blame us for the consequences of their choice. Once again, we will not be drawn into this blame game. It will mean wasting time, and we don’t have time.”

The European Commission says expedited extradition could still be possible between the EU and UK but that it would have to be “organised differently”. Mr Barnier also said the EU was open to exchanging security information with the UK but that this could not be based “on access to EU-only or Schengen-only databases”.

The new bilateral system could make use of liaison officers and would be a reciprocal arrangement, Mr Barnier said.

The bloc also says any cooperation with the UK on the issue would be conditional on Britain remaining subject to the European Court of Human Rights and its convention – which Theresa May has previously toyed with leaving. UK data protection rules would also have to stay aligned with those of the EU, a document spelling out the plan says. Proposals laid out by European Commission officials say the agreement would have a “guillotine clause” that would terminate the agreement if these conditions were not adhered to.

“You cannot expect member states to continue cooperating with the UK without these safeguards,” the negotiator added. “This is not a bureaucratic issue; this is about the lives and liberties of our citizens.”

Theresa May has repeatedly said the UK wants to stay in Europol and have access to the European arrest warrant after Brexit.

A spokesperson for the Brexit department said: “Keeping citizens in the UK and EU safe is an absolute priority. We have set out our commitment to this and how we can continue to work together and maintain current operational capability.

“We are proposing an internal security treaty to deliver this. We recognise we will be a third country, but we start from a unique position of complete alignment.

“Any drop in the breadth and quality of cooperation would have a direct impact on public safety and on our collective ability to deliver justice across Europe.

“Clearly this remains a matter for negotiation.”