UK, EU in talks for trade pact
POST-BREXIT: MAY WISHES FOR A SPECIAL PARTNERSHIP
Wants prime minister to improve offers before opening talks.
British Prime Minister Theresa May repeated her wish yesterday to make a joint move with the European Union (EU) to open negotiations on a post-Brexit trade deal.
Speaking to reporters on arrival at a Brussels summit with ex-Soviet states, May said she would talk to EU summit chair Donald Tusk later in the day about “positive negotiations we’re having, looking ahead to the future deep and special partnership that I want with the European Union”.
She added: “What I’m clear about is that we must step forward together. This is for both the UK and for the European Union to move on to the next stage.”
The EU wants May to improve her financial and other offers before opening trade talks. May has said she wants guarantees of trade talks before making a new offer. May was to discuss Brexit plans with European Council President Tusk yesterday, the EU summit chair’s office said.
EU officials are waiting for signs from May that she is ready to strike a deal on finances and other issues to conclude a first phase of talks next month on Britain’s withdrawal in order to secure EU agreement to negotiate a future trade pact.
EU negotiators were not expecting a major move from May as early as yesterday. She has said she wants a guarantee of opening trade talks if she increases Britain’s financial offer. EU officials say they are working on a “joint report” that will confirm in public the results of the first stage of bargaining.
May will meet Tusk, the former Polish prime minister, after he has chaired an EU summit in Brussels at which six former Soviet neighbours, including Ukraine, are discussing their partnership with the European Union. May said that Britain would remain committed to European security after it leaves the EU.
EU leaders want to see better terms from London for the rights of EU citizens living in Britain after Brexit and more detail on how it will avoid a disruptive “hard border” in Northern Ireland.
European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker said he thought talks were making progress and he would see after his own meeting with May on December 4 whether there was sufficient progress to recommend that leaders who meet again at a summit on December 14-15 should launch future trade talks. – Reuters