There is no sense Britain is under pressure to leave the European Union quickly, Theresa May’s spokeswoman said after the prime minister met with Donald Tusk.
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Britain voted last June by a 52-48 percent margin to leave the European Union, although the United Kingdom government has not announced whether it will attempt to remain a part of the EU’s single market.
Speaking at the start of their meeting at the No. 10 Downing Street, Tusk also said “the ball is now in your court” as they discussed the next steps on Brexit, according to British press reports.
Immediately, it demonstrated that the pressure on British PM to reveal her official position on Brexit continues to be unrelenting.
This comes as the European Union leaders, excluding the United Kingdom, prepare to hold talks in Bratislava next week to “discuss the political consequences of Brexit for Europe”.
Since the June 23 referendum result that saw British voters opt to leave the 28-member bloc, European officials have called on May to invoke Article 50 of the Lisbon Treaty, which would trigger the two-year negotiation process.
“Our goal (is) to establish closest possible EU-UK relations”.
“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”, he said. He said the process should begin as soon as possible.
That meeting was originally aimed to coordinate the European Union 27’s common position and priorities for negotiations with the United Kingdom government about Britain’s exit from the bloc.
Before the meeting, Tusk told May that “the ball is now in your court” to start negotiations.
She said Wednesday that her government would “think through the issues in a sober and considered way” and “will not take decisions until we are ready”. But the government has said it can do preparatory work.
THERESA May has said she will not reveal her hand in Brexit talks – but she did reveal a lot of leg today when she met a European bigwig.
Jeremy Corbyn accused the Government of issuing “contradictory messages” on Brexit which were exacerbating “huge uncertainty” about the UK’s future.
May’s spokeswoman, Helen Bower, denied that Tusk’s comments were an attempt to put pressure on Britain. So May, who opposed Brexit as David Cameron’s Home Secretary, has said her government will not trigger Article 50 until it can reach an outline agreement with European leaders on the terms of withdrawal.
In a sign Brussels was waiting for Mrs May to clarify when she will kickstart the formal process of quitting, Mr Tusk said it was a “crucial time” for the United Kingdom and for the EU.
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“The main points that the prime minister made were about working together so that there was a smooth process for the United Kingdom leaving the European Union, that is why we are taking time to prepare for the negotiations”, the spokeswoman told reporters.
