EU sets tough terms for Brexit trade talks

The European Union offered Britain talks this year on a future free trade pact but made clear in negotiating guidelines issued on Friday that London must first agree to EU demands on the terms of Brexit.

Those include paying tens of billions of euros and giving residence rights to some 3 million EU citizens in Britain, the proposed negotiating objectives distributed by EU summit chair Donald Tusk to Britain’s 27 EU partners showed. The document sets tough conditions for any transition period, insisting UK must accept many EU rules after any such partial withdrawal. It also spelled out EU resistance to Britain scrapping swathes of tax, environmental and labour laws if it wants to have an eventual free trade pact.

The guidelines may be revised before the EU27 leaders endorse them at a summit on April 29.

“Once, and only once we have achieved sufficient progress on the withdrawal, can we discuss the framework for our future relationship,” Tusk told reporters in Malta. “Starting parallel talks on all issues at the same time, as suggested by some in the UK, will not happen,” Tusk said, adding the EU could assess as early as this autumn that Britain had made “sufficient progress” on the exit terms in order to open the second phase of negotiations, on future trade.

Brussels has estimated that Britain might owe it something of the order of 60 billion euros on departure, although it says the actual number cannot be calculated until it actually leaves.

What it does want is to agree the methodology of how to work out the “Brexit bill”, taking into account Britain’s share of EU assets and liabilities.

SPAIN TO HAVE VETO RIGHT OVER GIBRALTAR

The EU offered Spain a veto right over the future relationship between Gibraltar and the EU after Britain leaves the bloc, a move that could smooth Brexit talks but also dash Gibraltar’s hopes to win a special status.

The future of Gibraltar, a rocky British enclave on Spain’s southern tip, is set to be a major point of contention in the exit talks along with issues relating to Britain’s access to the EU’S single market.