Brexit talks ‘only have 15-month window’

THE European Parliament’s Brexit negotiator warned his British counterpart yesterday there is an “intense” window of just 15 months to complete talks for the country’s exit from the EU.

Guy Verhofstadt said he had also told Brexit Minister David Davis that European lawmakers would not accept Britain trying to keep access to the single market while limiting freedom of movement for EU citizens.

Former Belgian prime minister and leading European federalist Verhofstadt had tweeted that it would be a “hell of a meeting” after Davis jokingly compared him to Satan earlier this year.

“We agreed on some things, on the need for this process to start as early as possible and need to be finished in any case before the next European elections” in May 2019, Verhofstadt said after the talks in Strasbourg. “So the window for the negotiations is more or less 14, 15 months. It’s going to be a period that is very intense.”

The head of the European Parliament’s largest group, Manfred Weber, said he had “heard nothing new” when he also met Davis in Strasbourg.

“Unfortunately I haven’t heard anything new from David Davis today. For us it’s clear: The four fundamental freedoms are not negotiable,” said Weber, head of the centre-right European People’s Party. “Brexit means Brexit so we’re going to have to cut back on our relationships, it’s not a cherry-picking situation.”