It is high time we accelerated the pace of negotiations on the Brexit, “British exit” from the European Union.
That’s what British Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson expressed on Monday. British Prime Minister Theresa May met in Brussels later in the day for talks with Jean-Claude Juncker, President of the Commission.
According to Downing Street, the meeting between Theresa May and Jean-Claude Juncker, also attended by Brexit Minister David Davis and EU chief negotiator Michel Barnier, falls within the framework of preparation for the European summit to be held at the end of the week, but it takes place precisely when British withdrawal negotiations are rather stalled.
“We think in the UK that it is time to get on with these negotiations,” Britain’s Foreign Secretary commented just a few hours before the meeting. “It’s time for us to start some serious conversations about our future relationship, the deep and special partnership we hope to construct.” Boris Johnson had already sent that message last week, following the unproductive fifth round of negotiations.
The EU is ready to discuss its future relationship with the UK, but requests first sufficient progress in the divorce negotiations. It is far from being the case at the moment. Michel Barnier said last Thursday to be convinced that with “a political will,” in the next two months, “decisive breakthroughs” might be seen on the terms for the orderly withdrawal of the UK. That would allow the European Council to give the go-ahead in December for the second phase of negotiations.
