Yahoo – AFP,
Danny KEMP, Alex PIGMAN, 29 April 2017
 |
| EU President Donald Tusk in Brussels at the HQ of the European Council, on April 29, 2017 for a summit on Brexit negotiating guidelines |
EU leaders
unanimously backed a tough Brexit strategy at a summit on Saturday, demanding a
"serious response" from Britain on the rights of European citizens
before trade talks can start.
In a show
of togetherness the 27 leaders agreed the negotiating guidelines within minutes
and applauded as they met in Brussels without British Prime Minister Theresa
May.
EU
President Donald Tusk hailed the "outstanding unity" in an often
fractious club, saying it was a "firm and fair political mandate" for
the Brexit negotiations.
"After
four minutes we were ready, it's very promising," former Polish premier
Tusk told a news conference.
Britain
swiftly warned that the talks could be "confrontational".
The summit
was the first since May one month ago formally triggered the two-year process
of untangling Britain from the European Union after four decades of membership.
The EU
guidelines say talks on a future relationship with Britain can only start once
London agrees divorce terms on citizens' rights, its exit bill and the border
in Northern Ireland.
But Tusk
said the fate of three million EU nationals living in Britain and one million
Britons on the continent was the number one priority.
"We
need a serious British response," Tusk said."I want to assure you
that as soon as Britain gives real guarantees for our citizens, we will find a
solution rapidly."
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| EU President Donald Tusk (R) said that before talks with Britain over Brexit "we must first sort out our past" and resolve the key divorce issues of "people, money and Ireland" |
'Underestimate difficulties'
European
Commission head Jean-Claude Juncker said May had repeatedly urged him to be
"patient" when they had dinner in London this week, but said Britain
now needed to get serious on the issue.
"I
have the impression sometimes that our British friends, not all of them, do
underestimate the technical difficulties we have to face," the former
Luxembourg premier said.
Brexit has
offered the EU a fresh chance at unity after years of bitter internal divisions
over the eurozone debt crisis and migration, plus growing euroscepticism.
May, who
has called elections in Britain in June in a bid to shore up her mandate for
negotiations, this week accused the EU 27 of ganging up on London.
Her
comments were partly in response to German Chancellor Angela Merkel, who said
Britain had "illusions" about the talks.
Britain's
Brexit minister David Davis said while London wanted good relations with the
EU, the talks were "the most complex the UK has faced in our lifetimes.
They will be tough and, at times even confrontational."
But Merkel
insisted on Saturday that "no one is allied" against London and that
the EU was merely protecting its interests following Britain's historic vote to
leave last June.
Merkel said
the 27 leaders had given a round of applause after "very quickly"
adopting the guidelines.
French
President Francois Hollande meanwhile praised their common position and said
there would "inevitably be a price and a cost for Britain."
The EU 27
have considerably toughened the Brexit strategy since Tusk first unveiled it a
month ago.
The
guidelines say that trade talks can begin only when EU leaders unanimously
decide "sufficient progress" has been made on divorce issues.
Merkel said
EU Brexit negotiator Michel Barnier told the leaders he hoped for agreement on
the divorce phase by autumn, so the talks can move onto a trade deal.
However,
Britain says it wants to discuss the divorce and a trade deal in parallel.
40-60
billion euro bill
In a
further move that will rile London, the EU 27 also backed automatic membership
for Northern Ireland if it reunifies with Ireland, and called for Spain to have
a say over any deal that affects Gibraltar.
Spanish
Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy insisted he had "no red lines" on
Gibraltar, a rocky outcrop off southern Spain that has been a British territory
for 300 years.
The leaders
discussed for the first time the spoils of Brexit -- the relocation of EU
medical and banking agencies currently based in London.
While the
EU says citizens' rights is a priority, the most touchy issue of all is likely
to be Britain's exit bill.
Luxembourg
Prime Minister Xavier Bettel said this was estimated at 40-60 billion euros
($42-65 billion), which mainly covers financial commitments made by the bloc
while Britain was a member.
The bill is
politically toxic for May in election campaign season.
But it also
risks causing divisions among EU states -- split between those that make an
overall contribution, and those that are net recipients -- as they debate how
to plug any holes in the EU's budget.
"There
are some who don't want to pay more and those who don't want to receive less.
That is going to be a real debate," Juncker said.
Actual
Brexit negotiations are not expected to begin until after the British election,
although the EU is set to give an official mandate to Barnier on May 22.
