"Good friends and good partners" under certain conditions, says von der Leyen

European Commission’s President Ursula von der Leyen focused on what follows UK’s departure from the bloc during the MEPs’ debate that was held prior to the vote on the Brexit Bill on Wednesday.
The Commission’s chief stressed the importance of Europe remaining vigilant on the implementation of the Withdrawal Agreement Bill, as the EU will have to “sort out how to deal with the UK [with its new status] as a third country”.
The new EU-UK relation was described by von der Leyen as “good friends and good partners”, adding that the upcoming trade deal could foresee “zero tariffs, zero quotas, under the precondition that European and British businesses continue to compete on a level playing field”, to guarantee fair competition.
UK’s compliance with Europe’s standards in the fields of social and working rights, environment and fair competition, could provide the country with “a closer and better access to the Single Market,” according to von der Leyen.
Speaking at the European Parliament’s plenary session, von der Leyen waved goodbye to British MEPs saying “We will miss you – but we will always keep up our friendship with you. And you can count on us – as we know that we can count on you”.
Susan Danger, CEO of the American Chamber of Commerce to the EU commented on the announcement of the post-Brexit relation that “significant divergence between the EU and UK regulatory regimes causing loss of market access would be an enormous setback for businesses and consumers. New quotas or tariffs would also be detrimental to jobs and growth”.