The talks can not start until Prime Minister Theresa May formally sets the two-year countdown to British departure.
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At a meeting of European Union leaders in Bratislava tomorrow, Mr Tusk will try to forge some kind of consensus between countries in the east, who are warring with the European Union on refugee quotas; those in the south, who want more done to revive jobs and growth; and those in the north, who are struggling to govern against populist, anti-EU political movements.
“We can’t start our discussion. with this kind of blissful conviction that nothing is wrong, that everything was and is OK”, he added.
He said he will present a roadmap he hopes will be a first step to show European Union citizens that “we have learned the lessons from Brexit” and can restore stability.
Meeting in Paris on the eve of the summit, German Chancellor Angela Merkel and French President Francois Hollande called for a “roadmap” to protect Europe’s borders and remain a “continent of hope”.
However, with leading powers France and Germany holding national elections over the coming year, the bloc’s immediate scope for agreeing substantive new policies, notably on reforming the euro currency area and asylum rules, is limited.
While some MEPs criticised Polish authorities for controversial reforms affecting the country’s constitutional tribunal, others insisted on respecting decisions taken by the democratically-elected government.
“Of course there is a reputation of some of them being anti-Britain and very, very tough”. The government accuses Tusk of failing to defend Poland’s interests in the EU.
Bank chiefs say “bridge” needed after article 50 * Rising risks, higher costs seen from “tinkering” with London * Banks face “enormous task” in setting up EU subsidiaries (Recasts with more detail, quotes) By Huw Jones and Lawrence White LONDON, Sept 14 (Reuters) – Banks will need more than the two years now allowed to span the gap between Britain leaving the European Union and a new trade deal if they are to avoid disruption to financial markets, industry chiefs said on Wednesday.
The most challenging issues on the negotiating table will likely be how Britain can achieve its aim of restricting migration from the European Union, while maintaining access to the single market.
What we need today is an optimistic scenario for the future, no doubts.
“It would be a fatal error to assume that the negative result in the United Kingdom referendum represents a specifically British issue”, Tusk wrote in an invitation letter for Friday’s summit of 27 leaders, all except Britain.
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The EU Commission risks “repeating, in an even more toxic dimension, all the mistakes that we saw past year”, Szymanski told reporters in Brussels Monday.
