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Mostrando entradas de agosto 21, 2017

Timetable clash

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Just a week to go before Brexit talks resume and already the U.K. and European Union are at odds again over how soon they can start crafting a trade deal. Adopting a provocative posture, Prime Minister Theresa May’s government is, in its own words, “stepping up pressure” on the EU to move on from discussing the terms of separation as soon as October. The use of fighting words in the past has not budged Brussels and will not go down well now given that EU officials blame the U.K. for slow progress and a lack of clarity. Before agreeing to talk trade, the EU wants “sufficient progress” to be made addressing citizens’ rights, the Irish border and the Brexit bill. Both sides had initially aimed for that milestone to be met in October. But Slovenian Prime Minister Miro Cerar told The Guardian that “the process will definitely take more time than we expected.” “There are so many difficult topics on the table, difficult issues there, that one cannot expect all those issues wi