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Ministers from the 27 other EU states met in Brussels to sign
off on a common strategy and mandate the EU executive, in the
form of chief Brexit negotiator Michel Barnier, to launch talks
on their behalf after Britain's June 8 election. The strategy
and mandate were adopted unanimously, officials said.
Several ministers stressed their priorities are to provide legal
clarity for EU citizens in Britain before they find themselves
living outside the EU in March 2019 and to agree how to
calculate what London owes Brussels before departure.
The Union's leaders agreed last month on a phased structure of
talks, under which the free trade agreement which British Prime
Minister Theresa May wants with the EU would only be discussed
after a first phase of talks makes "significant progress" on
issues such as citizens' rights and the budget.
"It's clear that in this matter, on the finance issue, if we get
stuck then we will not get on to Phase Two, what should come
afterwards between the European Union and Great Britain,"
Luxembourg Foreign Minister Jean Asselborn said on arrival.
His Dutch counterpart Bert Koenders told reporters: "It's very
British to know that if you're part of a club and then you leave
you have to settle your accounts."
May and her Conservative government have said they will meet
their obligations but challenge the idea that Britain might have
to pay tens of billions of euros to the EU to cover its share of
existing financial commitments. Britain wants to launch talks on
a future trading relationship as soon as possible.
Barnier has said that the two-stage approach, by which trade
talks could start early next year, is needed to avoid confusion.
Several ministers stressed the unity among the 27. Some,
including Austrian Foreign Minister Sebastian Kurz, said the
other net contributor countries must pay no more into the EU
budget after Britain left.
Germany's European Affairs Minister Michael Roth underlined the
need to get started to contain the damage from what he said was
a "lose-lose situation" for both Britain and the EU.
"We have two years. The clock is ticking," Roth told reporters.
"We have to get down to work."
(Reporting by Alastair Macdonald; @macdonaldrtr; editing by
Richard Lough)
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