May has given little away on what she wants when Britain leaves the European Union, saying she will not show her hand before Britain triggers Article 50 of the EU’s Lisbon Treaty to start the exit procedure.
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In London, Tusk met May for their first head-to-head meeting since Britain voted to leave the bloc in a referendum on June 23 which led to the resignation of her predecessor David Cameron.
Speaking in Dublin after a meeting with Taoiseach Enda Kenny, Mr Tusk said he recognises the importance of the Brexit decision.
On Wednesday, May’s spokeswoman said the two leaders would not only talk about Britain’s exit, or “Brexit”, but would also discuss issues on the agenda for the October meeting of European Union leaders, suggesting that Britain still plans to play a role.
Tusk tweeted that a quick initiation of negotiations was in “everyone’s interest”, and maintained that the EU’s goal was to establish the closest possible relations with Britain. To put it simply, the ball is now in your court.
“In everybody’s best interest to start ASAP (as soon as possible)”, Tusk said on Twitter.
The Prime Minister has faced accusations of vagueness and contradiction over the Government’s position on remaining in the European single market, but has insisted she will not reveal her negotiating hand “prematurely”.
May told Tusk she wanted a “smooth” Brexit process and told him they had “serious issues” to discuss.
Liberal Democrat leader Tim Farron responded: “This Government isn’t concealing its hand – it hasn’t got a hand or, it would appear, a clue”.
European Union leaders, excluding Britain, will meet next week in Bratislava to sketch out the bloc’s future strategy after Brexit.
That prompted Mr Corbyn’s team to stress that he backed “full access” to the single market for goods and services but opposed certain directives linked to it, such as state aid rules and requirements to deregulate and privatise public services.
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Up to now, May has refused to pin down a specific date to trigger the article 50, saying that her government needs time to prepare for negotiations.
