Yahoo - AFP, June
30, 2016
Brussels (AFP) - EU leaders agreed Wednesday that Britain cannot have access to the single market after leaving the union without accepting the bloc's rules on free movement, president Donald Tusk said.
EU meets without Britain for first time since Brexit vote |
Brussels (AFP) - EU leaders agreed Wednesday that Britain cannot have access to the single market after leaving the union without accepting the bloc's rules on free movement, president Donald Tusk said.
"There
will be no single market a la carte," Tusk told a news conference in
Brussels after the 27 leaders met without British Prime Minister David Cameron.
"Leaders
made it crystal clear today that access to the single market requires
acceptance of all four freedoms including freedom of movement," Tusk
added.
The 27 EU
leaders will also hold a summit -- without Britain -- in Bratislava on
September 16 to discuss further the fallout from Britain's decision to leave
the bloc, Tusk said.
The summit
will come just days after Britain's ruling Conservative party is due to choose
a successor to Cameron, who resigned on Friday after his country voted in a
referendum to leave the EU by 52 percent to 48.
"This
was a first exchange so it is too early to draw conclusions. This is why we
started a political reflection with 27 states and we'll meet on September 16 in
Bratislava to continue our talks," Tusk said.
The former
Polish premier stressed that negotiations on Britain's future relationship with
the EU cannot start until it formally triggers the two-year process leading to
a divorce.
Cameron has
said this is a task for his successor.
Tusk
meanwhile said at the "calm and serious" discussion -- the first EU
talks without a British leader present for 40 years -- they agreed it was a
"serious moment in our common history."
"One
issue is clear from our debate. Leaders are absolutely determined to remain
united," he added.
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Britain wins Brexit breathing space at gloomy EU summit https://t.co/O7nolOyyxg pic.twitter.com/XoJXqxjVmx— AFP news agency (@AFP) June 28, 2016
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