A general view of the round table meeting of EU heads of state at an EU summit in Brussels on April 29, 2017. (source: AP/TASR)
A great deal of progress was made at the European Council meeting on April 29, as the European leaders showed their unity and determination to act collectively heading into talks with the United Kingdom on the conditions governing the country’s exit from the EU.
This is how Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico (Smer) commented on an extraordinary EU-27 summit that was dedicated to establishing guidelines for Brexit negotiations.
“The determination and preparedness is seen in the high quality of the preparation work,” Fico said, as quoted by the TASR newswire. “There were practically no reservations or proposals for changes to the so-called negotiation guidelines, and we adopted them within several minutes.”
All leaders insist on the EU’s unity in the negotiations, because that is the only way to ensure a successful outcome, he said.
“A scenario that the UK as a non-member country ends up with better conditions concerning, for example, the single market than it has as an EU-member country at the moment is inadmissible,” Fico added, as quoted by TASR.
In addition, EU leaders must adopt a single negotiation package, while partial agreements are out of the question. The EU also seeks to send a clear message that it will not tolerate ‘cherry-picking’, with the leaders committed to the integrity of the single market and to respect for the four fundamental freedoms, the prime minister said.
He went on to herald two stages in the negotiations: the ‘divorce’ itself, involving especially the standing of the EU citizens residing in the UK, and the settlement of financial commitments.
“First the divorce, then the future, citizens, funds and everything else,” said Fico, as quoted by TASR, summing up the process, which he said should conclude in late 2018 and early 2019.
He also said that he wants both the EU and the UK to benefit from their post-Brexit relations.
“I think it’ll be painful, but if it should hurt one side more than the other, then it should be more painful for the UK, because they’ve made their own decision to leave and it wouldn’t be right to make the EU-27 pay a price for it,” Fico went on, as quoted by TASR. “It wasn’t our choice, it was a decision made by the United Kingdom.”
