EU Leader asks United Kingdom to speed up their Exit

LONDON, Sept 8 (Reuters) – Britain and the European Union must work together to make their divorce smooth and forge a new “strong relationship”, Prime Minister Theresa May told European Council President Donald Tusk on Thursday.

Tusk is touring European capitals ahead of a summit in Slovakia this month where the 27 EU leaders – the entire bloc, except Britain- will gather to discuss the fallout from Britain’s EU referendum.

But he told Mrs May: “It doesn’t mean that we are going to discuss our future relations with the United Kingdom in Bratislava, because for this – and especially for the start of the negotiations – we need the formal notification, I mean triggering Article 50”.

“Our goal (is) to establish closest possible EU-UK relations”.

“I’m aware that it is not easy but I still hope you will be ready to start the process as soon as possible”, he said. “She is approaching that with an open mind”, her spokeswoman told reporters.

Mrs May has insisted she will not reveal her negotiating hand “prematurely”.

May told lawmakers on Wednesday that her government would “think through the issues in a sober and considered way”.

“In fact it is there to protect the interests of the countries remaining in the European Union”, he said.

But the Labour leader found himself in a row over the single market after a senior aide suggested he might rule out full membership unless Britain can negotiate exemptions from key European Union rules.

May’s spokeswoman, Helen Bower, denied that Tusk’s comments were an attempt to put pressure on Britain. Ball in United Kingdom court to start negotiations. We are getting on with that vital work.

“In the next two years we will be developing that team to build the world class negotiating strengths needed to deliver the best outcomes for the United Kingdom”, he said, adding that it would also hire experts in specific sectors of the economy.

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.