The leaders of the 27 countries remaining in the EU have formally signed off their negotiating guidelines for the next phrase of Brexit talks – paving the way for discussions about the bloc’s future relationship with Britain for the first time.
Leaders approved the strategy this morning at a meeting in Brussels, on the second day of the European Council summit.
The trade talk guidelines, which weigh in at a brief six and a half pages, state that the UK has made frictions in trade inevitable and by ruling out membership of the single market and customs union, the Independent reported.
The guidelines state that the EU is determined “to have as close as possible a partnership with the UK in the future” and that this should cover “trade and economic cooperation as well as other areas, in particular the fight against terrorism and international crime, as well as security, defence and foreign policy”.
