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Brexit: EU leaders agree to move talks onto next stage | Brexit: EU leaders agree to move talks onto next stage |
(35 minutes later) | |
EU leaders have agreed to move Brexit talks on to the second phase, says European Council President Donald Tusk. | |
This means talks can move on to the long-term relationship between the UK and EU, including trade and security. | |
The first issue to be discussed, as early as next week, will be the terms of a transition period after the UK leaves in March 2019. | The first issue to be discussed, as early as next week, will be the terms of a transition period after the UK leaves in March 2019. |
European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker has warned this process will be "significantly harder". | |
Mr Tusk tweeted the news after a meeting of the other 27 EU leaders in Brussels. | |
He congratulated UK Prime Minister Theresa May on reaching what the BBC's political editor Laura Kuenssberg said was a major moment in the Brexit process. | |
Mrs May has said she wants both sides to approach the next phase of negotiations, which will determine the long-term shape of the UK relations with the EU, with "creativity and ambition". | |
The EU has published its guidelines for phase two of the negotiations, with discussions on future economic co-operation not likely to begin until March. | |
The UK reached agreement with the European Commission last week that "sufficient progress" had been made on so-called divorce issues, such as citizens' rights and financial liabilities, to move onto the next phase. | |
Mr Juncker said on Friday that the EU's initial priority was to "formalise the agreement" that had been reached before moving forward. | |
Mrs May is set to discuss her vision of the "end-state" for the UK outside the EU at a cabinet meeting on Tuesday, having suffered her first Commons defeat earlier this week. |