Speaking about his meeting with the PM, Mr Tusk told a summit press conference: “Prime Minister May was very open and honest with me. But she said it is quite likely they will be ready in maybe January or maybe February next year”, he said.
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President of the European Council Donald Tusk, left, arrives for an EU summit at Bratislava Castle in Bratislava on Friday, Sept. 16, 2016. Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson told his Italian counterpart this week that early-2017 was a probable start date, according to an official familiar with the conversation.
Liam Fox, the Tory minister who oversees the Secretary of State for International Trade, has been advised to delay negotiations with countries like the USA as pressing ahead while Britain remains an European Union member state risks a huge confrontation with Brussels, which could result in whopping multi-million-pound fines.
Speaking at a summit in Bratislava, Slovakia, to which the United Kingdom was barred for the first time in four decades following the June decision to quit the EU, Tusk said May had laid out that timeframe during a recent conversation.
BRATISLAVA, Slovakia (AP) – Bruised but refusing to be beaten by Britain’s planned exit, European Union leaders on Friday gave themselves one long winter to prepare a fundamental reset of the bloc that should stave off increasing discontent and offer solutions for the multiple crises it faces.
For instance, Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico was quoted by the Financial Times as, “I will be perfectly frank”.
The PM slapped down Mr Davis for saying it was “very improbable” that the United Kingdom could be in the single market and end free movement, and then insisted the Government would not offer a “running commentary” on negotiations. We will not allow this negotiation to damage our interest.You can not get away from the feeling that such negotiations run the risk of creating second-class citizens in the UK.
The severity of the EU’s threats has already forced Fox to delay negotiating a trade deal with the US. “At the same time, it is not possible for these negotiations to damage our interests”, the head of the executive European Commission Jean-Claude Juncker told a news conference.
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“So I can not see any possibility of compromising on that very issue”, he said. “We have this link between the internal market and the principles of the internal market”, he explained.
