MIDDAY BRIEF, IN BRIEF

Today at Commission, Brexit Plan A and visas

The Commission says it wants a Brexit deal and nothing else.

British Prime Minister Theresa May used a TV debate on Monday evening to repeat her line that “no deal is better than a bad deal” when it comes to Brexit. But the European Commission on Tuesday refused to say if no deal would be an option for the EU side of the negotiating table.

“Our Plan A is to have a deal and this is what we are working on,” said Commission deputy spokesperson Mina Andreeva.

The Commission also said today it was still working with U.S. authorities on visa reciprocity. In early March, the European Parliament voted for a resolution calling for a ban on entry rights for Canadians and Americans until all EU nationals were allowed free access in the other direction. The Parliament’s civil liberties committee has now decided to ask the opinion of the legal affairs committee in a bid to push the issue forward.

Andreeva was standing in for chief spokesman Margaritis Schinas who on Monday gave strong comments “clarifying the structure and the functioning the European Commission” after Polish Foreign Minister Witold Waszczykowski told POLITICO he believed the Commission has no political legitimacy to assess the rule of law situation in Poland.

Andreeva said the Commission will continue to safeguard the rule of law and similar comments would have made if any other country had issued such a statement.

She also confirmed that Jean-Claude Juncker received a letter from Christopher Portier, a toxicologist, who claimed EU scientific experts misinterpreted studies on the health impacts of the controversial weedkiller glyphosate.

The letter was handed over to the European Food Safety Agency and the European Chemicals Agency for a reply.

Juncker is also tomorrow scheduled to meet German Finance Minister Wolfgang Schäuble and Austrian Chancellor Christian Kern.