EU demands progress on Brexit divorce before trade talks

BRUSSELS — The European Union (EU) demanded that Britain make “sufficient progress” on its divorce before talks on a trade deal can start, as it laid out its tough Brexit negotiating plans yesterday.

European Council president Donald Tusk ruled out an immediate start to parallel talks, as demanded by British Prime Minister Theresa May on Wednesday in her letter triggering the historic two-year Brexit process.

Mr Tusk’s draft negotiating guidelines add that the other 27 countries are ready for a transitional deal after Britain’s exit in 2019, but that any such arrangement must be under strict EU rules.

“Once, and only once we have achieved sufficient progress on the withdrawal, can we discuss the framework for our future relationship,” he told reporters in Malta — a compromise between EU hardliners who want no trade talks until the full Brexit deal is agreed and British calls for an immediate start.

He said the EU could assess as early as this autumn if Britain had made sufficient progress on the exit terms in order to open the second phase of negotiations, on future trade.

The former Polish premier added it was his “first divorce and I hope the last one”. He said while he hoped the talks would not be confrontational, the EU would stick to its principles.

“The EU 27 does not and will not pursue a punitive approach. Brexit itself is already punitive enough,” said Mr Tusk.

The EU is keen to stress its unity as it faces the wrenching departure of one of its biggest members, the first time a country has left the bloc in its 60-year history.

Mr Tusk’s guidelines will now be sent out to the leaders of the 27 remaining EU countries, which will suggest changes ahead of a special summit in Brussels to approve the plans on April 29.

Germany and France had already set out a united and uncompromising stance against Mrs May’s demands.

The guidelines say that the EU called for a “phased approach” that prioritises an orderly withdrawal that reduces the disruption caused by Britain’s departure in March 2019.

The fate of three million EU citizens living in Britain and one million British people within the bloc’s 27 other nations is at the top of leaders’ agenda. Also looming large is the so-called “exit bill” Britain will have to pay, estimated to be as much as €60 billion (S$89.6 billion), and the border between Northern Ireland and Ireland.

The EU also said that no trade deal can be agreed on before Brexit takes effect. But it is also open to a transitional arrangement after Brexit as a “bridge” to a future deal some years down the line, but said that it would have to be under EU rules and the European Court of Justice.

It said it will “prepare itself to be able to handle the situation also if the negotiations were to fail”.

The EU’s chief negotiator Michel Barnier, is expected to get the green light to start talks with Britain on May 22, said an EU official.

Mrs May formally notified the EU of Britain’s intention to leave in a letter to Mr Tusk that diplomats described as surprisingly conciliatory in tone for the most part. But her warning in the letter that failure to clinch a deal on trade would affect Britain’s cooperation on terrorism and security still rankled many.

British Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson, in Brussels as North Atlantic Treaty Organization ministers met American Secretary of State Rex Tillerson, said London was committed to European security and that it was “not some bargaining chip” in the Brexit talks. AGENCIES