Against all insinuations from certain quarters, EU leaders
seem to have made a “carrot offer” to the United Kingdom saying if a trade
agreement could possibly be reached before the end of Brexit negotiations,
provided the UK agrees to pay up the divorce bill allotted to it. And there is
enough positive headway.
According to the Brexit guideline set out by Brussels,
Britain must show some level of seriousness by first of all paying up the
divorce bill and also ensure EU nationals living in the UK are protected,
before any meaningful negotiations can begin.
Donald Tusk while working out strategies stated that: "Once
and only we have achieved sufficient progress on the withdrawal can we discuss
the framework for our future relationship.
"Starting parallel talks on all issues at the same
time, as suggested by some in the UK, will not happen."
According to Tusk, these four areas on interest must resolved
first. They are: the rights of EU citizens living in Britain and UK citizens in
Europe, the Brexit divorce bill, which has been put at €60bn (£52bn), the
border between Northern Ireland and the Republic and clarity over EU law in the
UK after it leaves.
He used the moment to urge the UK to honour financial
commitments they were involved in before they voted to leave the EU.
On the other hand, speaking during chat with Sky News, the
Maltese president, Joseph Muscat, who holds the rotating presidency of the
Council of the European Union said the final bill need not be calculated before
trade talks but there must be agreement on how it is worked out.
According to the EU guidelines, a “transitional” deal is
also one of the options opened for negotiations. Saying, this is only possible
if Britain would be ready to keep applying the EU’s rules, which involves:
contribution to budget, abiding under ECJ, and perhaps allow freedom of
movement.
Mr Tusk also promised there would be "no punitive
approach, Brexit is punitive enough".
But then he warned Theresa May not to pick off countries independently
to negotiate in a divide-and-rule approach and should negotiate "only with
the 27 as a unity".
Negotiations are expected to start on May 22.
Speaking as he arrived for a NATO summit in Brussels,
Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson said: "We really are moving forward now,
and there's a lot of goodwill, a lot of willingness to achieve what the Prime
Minister has said she wants to achieve, which is an orderly transition and then a deep and
special partnership between a strong EU and a strong UK."
Liberal Democrat leader Tim Farron said the guidelines
showed "the strength of the EU in these negotiations and the carelessness
of the UK Government in isolating themselves from our European allies".
A Government spokesman said: "It is clear both sides
wish to approach these talks constructively, and as the Prime Minister said
this week, wish to ensure a deep and special partnership between the UK and the
European Union."
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