Leo Varadkar Quotes

If the U.K. wants to leave the E.U., we need to stay in the single market.

I want us to move as quickly as we can towards a free trade deal between the U.K. and the U.S.A. that would be good for both of us. That would also send a signal to the European Union that there's a bigger world outside of the European Union, and Britain can manage just nicely.

The most difficult part of Brexit will be to figure out the trade regime between the U.K. and the rest of the E.U. because the level of trade integration between the members of the E.U. is the deepest in the world and integrates regulations that govern how products and services are produced and sold within the E.U.

I do not doubt that there are many countries that will wish to trade with the U.K. post-Brexit, but understandably they will wait to see what the U.K.'s ultimate relationship with Europe will be.

The EU has made it very clear that for frictionless trade and no tariffs on goods there is a mechanism for achieving that, but there are consequences. There are trade-offs that will have to happen.

There's a whole range of areas that we'll be looking at, so I'm not at this very early stage going to specify any particular areas. As you will know, there will be a limit to how far we can go in terms of a formal free trade agreement until we've actually left the European Union. I think there is much that we [with Donald Trump] can do in the interim in terms of looking at how we can remove some of the barriers to trade in a number of areas.

Most British people are keen to remain in a European free trade zone; and most EU states are keen to keep us there, because we buy from them more than we sell to them to the tune of £40 million per day.

You mentioned the Free Trade Agreement and yes I can't tell you how pleased we are that Morocco is one of the countries that our country is going to begin negotiating a Free Trade Agreement with.

Canada and the United States are also working at the World Trade Organization and in our own hemisphere with negotiations for a Trade Area of the Americas to try to help countries create a positive climate for investment and trade.

Reducing trade barriers with this key ally will go a long way toward increasing market access for American farmers, manufacturers and service providers.

There is a perfectly good alternative to the European Union - it is called the European Free Trade Association, founded in 1960. Switzerland, Norway, Iceland and Liechtenstein are members. E.F.T.A. stands for friendship and cooperation through free trade.

If you wish to have free access to the single market, then you have to accept the fundamental rights as well as obligation that come from it.

Theresa May has made a decision that we want our economic future to remain close to Europe: it's the biggest single market in the world; it's right on our doorstep.

No one voted for a Brexit that will tie us to the E.U.'s customs rules and prevent us striking meaningful trade deals of our own.

It will be crucial the E.U. and the U.K. maintain the closest economic relationship possible.

We should advocate that the North should stay in the customs union and the single market and that any customs checks should be in the ports and airports, not on land borders.

By remaining inside a customs union and the single market in a transitional phase we would be certain that goods and services could continue to flow between the E.U. and the U.K. without tariffs, customs checks or additional red tape.

One of the reasons people voted to leave the E.U. is so that we could have the freedom to strike trade deals with countries outside the E.U. Staying locked into the customs union prevents this.

India's difficulties in negotiating an FTA with both the ASEAN and E.U. are a reminder of the importance of multilateralism.

As the U.K. prepares to leave the E.U., we have an opportunity to leverage our reputation for integrity and fair play as we establish new trading relationships.

Leaving the E.U. enables the U.K. to be more engaged with the global economy, not just the European economy.

NAFTA, by itself, will not collapse. The possibility is that the United States leaves the treaty, but the treaty itself would keep regulating relations between Canada and Mexico.

We've been slagging off the E.U. for decades, and now we've gone and voted to leave. And if anyone thinks they are going to offer us some great trade deal as we walk away, they are living in la la land.

I hope the unionist parties, for example, who would be keen to protect and preserve the Union would see that it's much easier to do that if the U.K. stays within the Customs Union and the Single Market, because that would take away the need for any special arrangement, or bespoke solution, for Northern Ireland.

You still hear some people speaking as though we could decide whether the Common market existed or not.