Michel Barnier has stated that the “door is open” for the United Kingdom to rejoin the EU “at any time.”
According to the EU’s former chief Brexit negotiator, the “terms and conditions” include membership in the single market and customs union.
The former EU official also questioned how much Britain deviates from Brussels’ regulations.
When asked by ITV’s Robert Peston how long it would take the UK to rejoin the EU if it applied, Mr Barnier responded, “The door is open, any time, I always say that during negotiation, after negotiation, the door remains open.”
“But to be clear, the UK government, the current government, the next government, knows exactly what are the terms and conditions to be part of the single market, to be part of the customs union, to rejoin the EU.
“The point is to know exactly what would happen during this time. What would be the size of divergence between us and a new candidate.”
Mr Barnier also accused former Prime Minister Boris Johnson of not respecting deals he signed during tortuous Brexit negotiations.
He said: “We signed with him not only the treaty on trade but the previous one, the first Brexit constitution, the divorce, including the [Northern] Irish protocol.
“So the point is not to sign a treaty, the point is to respect the treaty and to respect its own signature and I never understood, I do not still understand, how the Prime Minister of such a country, a great country like the UK, can be able not to respect his own signature.”
Earlier this year, Mr Barnier fumed that there is “no added value” to Brexit.