EU leaders endorse stiff Brexit terms
BRUSSELS: European Union leaders endorsed a stiff set of divorce terms for Britain at a summit yesterday, rejoicing in a rare show of unity in adversity, but well aware that may start to fray once negotiations begin.
Meeting for the first time since British Prime Minister Theresa May formally triggered a twoyear countdown to Brexit in late March, the 27 other EU leaders took just a minute as they sat down to lunch here to approve eight pages of negotiating guidelines hammered out by their diplomats over the past month.
“Guidelines adopted unanimously. EU27 firm and fair political mandate for the Brexit talks is ready,” summit chair Donald Tusk tweeted.
Leaders applauded, officials said, after formally adopting unmodified the text drafted by their aides.
The guidelines will bind Michel Barnier, UK’s chief negotiator, to seek a deal that secures the rights of three million EU expats living in Britain, ensure London pays tens of billions of euros Brussels thinks it will be owed and avoids destabilising peace by creating a hard EU-UK border across the island of Ireland.
“We are ready,” Barnier said. “We are together.”
They also ruled out discussing the free trade deal May wanted until they saw progress on agreeing those key withdrawal terms.
“Before discussing the future, we have to sort out our past,” Tusk said in comments echoed by German Chancellor Angela Merkel, who said “substantive issues” must first be settled.
“We are remarkably united,” one national leader who will be at the table said. “But then it’s always easy to be united on what you want before you start negotiating.” Reuters