- Title: EU "not hostile" but sees "very, very, very" difficult Brexit talks
- Date: 18th January 2017
- Summary: STRASBOURG, FRANCE (FILE) (REUTERS) EXTERIOR OF EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT BUILDING FLAGS OF EU MEMBER STATES
- Embargoed: 1st February 2017 13:31
- Keywords: EU Brexit Britain European Commission Juncker President
- Location: STRASBOURG, FRANCE
- City: STRASBOURG, FRANCE
- Country: Belgium
- Topics: European Union,Government/Politics
- Reuters ID: LVA0015ZLZI9Z
- Aspect Ratio: 16:9
- Story Text: European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker said on Wednesday (January 18) that EU negotiators were "not in a hostile mood" toward Britain but that Brexit talks would be "very, very, very" difficult.
"Our basic position is the same. We will start to negotiate after the triggering of Article 50 and then we'll see. It will be a very, very, very difficult negotiation because Britain has to be considered as a third country, which I'm not used (to). To express myself in these terms, I'm unhappy about it but that's the situation we are in," Juncker said.
The EU chief executive told a news conference that he had spoken to British Prime Minister Theresa May on Tuesday after she outlined her plans for leaving the European Union and welcomed the clarity she gave.
He said the Commission would seek a fair deal for both sides.
"We -- as the (European) Commission and Michel Barnier, as our chief negotiator, we are not in a hostile mood. We want a fair deal with Britain and a fair deal for Britain but a fair deal means a fair deal for the European Union too. I'm quite satisfied that she was taking away from this this unclear landscape of elements - making it clearer," the former Luxembourg prime minister said at the European Parliament in Strasbourg.
May said in a speech on Tuesday that Britain would seek the greatest possible access to European markets but aim to establish its own free trade deals with countries beyond Europe, and impose limits on immigration from the continent.
For the first time, she acknowledged that those measures would require withdrawing from the market of 500 million people, founded on principles of free movement of goods and people.
The Brexit talks are expected to be one of the most complicated negotiations in post-World War Two European history, and the view in Brussels is that May's goal of wrapping up a trade deal in two years is ambitious. - Copyright Holder: FILE REUTERS (CAN SELL)
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