EU wins first Brexit battle as UK retreats on timing

BRUSSELS: The UK lost its first battle with the European Union over the timetable for Brexit talks as the bloc’s chief negotiator warned that the consequences of leaving will be “substantial”.

On day one of the negotiations, Prime Minister Theresa May’s government gave in to EU demands to discuss the terms of its divorce — including the exit fee — before any consideration can begin on the future trade deal Britain wants with Europe’s common market.

The EU’s chief negotiator, Michel Barnier, bluntly warned that such an accord would not be fleshed out until after the UK leaves in less than two years. It was a clear rebuff to Ms May’s stated ambition of wrapping up a new free trade agreement quickly.

“I’m not in a frame of mind to make concessions,” Mr Barnier said at the end of the first day of talks in Brussels. “The UK has decided to leave the EU. It’s not the other way around.” This uncompromising stance is “not about punishment” or “revenge”, but simply a consequence of the UK’s decision to exit, he said. “The consequences are substantial.”

The discussions between UK Brexit Secretary David Davis and Mr Barnier marked the end of the beginning of what both sides expect to be a complicated and confrontational process to unwind more than four decades of membership. The clock is ticking down to midnight on March 29, 2019, when the UK will leave the EU, with or without a deal.

Almost a year after British voters took the decision to leave the bloc, Mr Davis took a team of officials to open the negotiations with Mr Barnier in the European Commission’s Berlaymont building on Monday. He pushed back against speculation that the UK might seek to soften Brexit by trying to remain in the EU’s single market and tarifffree customs union. “We need to bring back to Britain control of our laws and control of our borders,” he said.

Just a month ago, Mr Davis had predicted “the row of the summer” would erupt over how to structure the talks on Brexit. He wanted parallel discussion, covering both the future trade deal and the terms of Britain’s departure — including a demand for an exit payment of as much as €100 billion.

Mr Davis said Britain hadn’t backed down. When the EU “decides we have made enough progress — their words — both sets of dialogues will continue, including free trade”, he said. The UK and EU hope the first phase of talks focusing on the exit terms will conclude by October, allowing trade negotiations to begin.

Both sides were keen to emphasise their desire to work positively and to reach a fair deal that will foster friendly relations once Britain leaves. Their early priority will be to reassure the estimated 4.5 million European and British nationals living in each others’ countries that they won’t be forced to leave their homes or find new jobs after Brexit.