EU official: Brexit negotiations must be completed by October 2018

NAN-F-20

Brexit
London, Dec.6, 2016 (dpa/NAN) Negotiations on Britain’s exit from the EU must be completed by October 2018, the EU’s top Brexit negotiator said on Tuesday.

This, according to report, could add to the pressure on Prime Minister Theresa May to trigger formal talks soon.

“Time will be short. The period for actual negotiations will be shorter than two years,” Michel Barnier, the EU’s chief Brexit negotiator, told reporters in Brussels.

May has promised to trigger Article 50 of the Lisbon Treaty, which sets the rules for a two-year negotiating process for a nation leaving the EU, by the end of March.

“Article 50 is very clear. It sets out that as soon as we receive the notification, the earlier the better, we have two years in order to reach an agreement together,” Barnier said.

“All in all, there will be less than 18 months to negotiate,” he said, adding that a draft deal should be agreed by October 2018 to allow time for the British parliament, the European Council and the European Parliament to vote on the Brexit deal.

Meanwhile at Britain’s Supreme Court, lawyers for May’s government were presenting evidence in its appeal against a High Court ruling that she must seek parliamentary approval before triggering Article 50. (dpa/NAN)

(Edited  by Julius Enehikhuere)