“No one wants this to be up in the air”.
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“In this context, the Prime Minister suggested that the United Kingdom should relinquish the rotating Presidency of the Council, now scheduled for the second half of 2017, noting that we would be prioritising the negotiations to leave the European Union.”Donald Tusk welcomed the PM’s swift decision on this issue which would allow the council to put alternative arrangements in place”.
May also told European Council President Donald Tusk on Tuesday that Britain would not take up its scheduled presidency of the council in 2017.
It has been revealed that the UK’s Prime Minister Theresa May presented German Chancellor Angela Merkel with two books detailing prime walking routes during her visit to Berlin.
But during the press conference where she discussed Brexit and Britain’s place in Europe there was an awkward moment when she cracked a football joke in response to a reporter’s question.
In London, she had reiterated a pledge to reduce net migration – a key issue in last month’s Brexit referendum – promising to cut it to below 100,000 a year, though appearing to backtrack on a deadline.
Theresa May has insisted that Britain would not be rushed into leaving the European Union as she said formal talks on Brexit would not begin until next year.
While both leaders committed to a constructive bilateral relationship in the post-Brexit world, the chancellor gave no illusions that the ties could be as close as with countries in the EU.
European Union leaders have uniformly said they will not enter into formal exit negotiations with Britain until it triggers Article 50, and have urged Britain to move swiftly.
As the prime minister heads to the continent for the first time as leader, her German and French counterparts – both facing re-election next year – are under pressure to give Britain few concessions.
Several commentators heard echoes of Thatcher in her barbed comments, with the Independent daily commenting that she was “eerily reminiscent” of the late so-called Iron Lady.
The new British prime minster may well have an easier ride with Merkel than Socialist Hollande, though both have their own domestic election cycles to think about.
“It will be getting to know each other combined with trying to put positions on the table”. May the time she needs to prepare her government’s stance going into eventual Brexit negotiations. “She will be anxious to convey that she’s not a soft touch”.
“(The visit) underlines my personal commitment to bring a strong and constructive partnership … a partnership that works for the benefit of people here in Germany and people back home in Britain”, May told a news conference standing next to Merkel.
But in a possible softening of a European position that has focused on pressuring Britain to move faster, Merkel signaled that she was okay with that, calling the need for time “absolutely understandable”.
And when asked to rule out seeking access to the E.U.’s single market – a key demand of hard-line Brexiteers who want latitude to impose maximum controls on immigration – May did no such thing.
Hollande pressed his message that Britain’s negotiations to leave the European Union must not drag on, because “uncertainty is the greatest danger”.
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“For Hollande there is manifestly a concern about Brexit contagion to France”, said Begg.
