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European Union can’t compromise on freedom of movement
Tusk said he understood why Britain needs time to prepare, suggesting Prime Minister Theresa May could go for January or February, but the European Union was ready and could even start the talks “tomorrow”.
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Failure to hit that deadline would complicate elections to the European Parliament and the appointment of a new EU executive, the Commission, that year as well as hobble negotiations on a new seven-year EU budget.
“After the vote in the United Kingdom the only thing that makes sense is to have a sober and brutally honest assessment of the situation”, European Council President Donald Tusk told reporters in Bratislava on the eve of the meeting.
“This was also one of the reasons behind the Brexit vote”.
The joint statement from the continent’s traditional axis of power came after the EU’s 27 leaders, minus Britain, gathered in a castle overlooking the Slovak capital Bratislava to respond to multiple challenges.
Speaking at a media conference alongside French President Francois Hollande on Friday, Merkel said that Europe had been in a “critical situation” since the Brexit vote and it was essential to set out a plan for the EU.
European Union officials seemed surprised by Renzi’s belligerent comments, and suggested they were geared towards the Italian electorate, which will vote later this year on a number of crucial reforms on which the Italian PM has bet his political survival.
But several leaders, including Italy’s Matteo Renzi and Hungary’s Viktor Orban, shattered the facade of unity as soon as the meeting ended, underscoring how divided the bloc remains after years of economic crisis, a record influx of migrants and a series of deadly attacks by Islamist militants. Many EU leaders blame her for the hundreds of thousands of refugees who flooded across their borders. He further stressed that all fundamental freedoms must be respected, rejecting hints that some flexibility could be introduced for the freedom of movement of workers, versus the free movement of persons.
But because of divisions on some of the biggest issues, leaders are expected to stick to areas of common ground.
More concrete proposals would be presented at a summit in March 2017 that coincides with the 60th anniversary of the bloc’s founding Treaty of Rome.
Diplomats said a busy morning of talks in the city’s hilltop castle had remained civil and constructive in analyzing what was wrong. An EU official said the initial discussions had been “honest, without recriminations” while Tusk had submitted his “roadmap” in the afternoon session.
Britain’s Prime Minister Theresa May (L) greets European Council President Donald Tusk in Downing Street in London, Britain September 8, 2016. “It was in a good atmosphere”.
They will pledge closer defence cooperation and agree to bolster security along the EU’s external borders, as well as discussing new initiatives to generate growth and jobs.
“This is not a game between prime ministers leaving and prime ministers remaining, this is about people in Europe”.
Europe’s dominant leader in recent years, Merkel is now under mounting political pressure at home because of her welcoming stance towards refugees one year ago, a position which alienated many of her European Union partners.
In Eastern Europe, Poland, Hungary, the Czech Republic and Slovakia meanwhile oppose taking in more migrants and believe nation states are the future of the European Union, not a centralised super-state.
Angela Merkel said they needed to show they could improve on security, defence co-operation and the economy.
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He said: “I can’t give joint press conference with Merkel and Hollande”.