Brexit timetable well-received by EU leaders

UK Prime Minister Theresa May insisted that controlling immigration and withdrawing from the jurisdiction of the European Court of Justice would be her priorities during EU exit negotiations, the strongest indication yet that she will lean towards a hard Brexit.

On the first day of the Conservative Party conference in Birmingham, May pledged to trigger article 50 before the end of March 2017, insisting that greater border controls would trump any attempt to remain a member of the single market.

“I want [the deal] to give British companies the maximum freedom to trade and operate in the single market – and let European businesses do the same here,” she said, admitting that the negotiations would require some “give and take”. “But let me be clear, we are not leaving the European Union only to give up control of immigration again and we are not leaving only to return to the jurisdiction of the European Court of Justice.”

Her remarks immediately triggered a pointed response from the president of the European Council, Donald Tusk, who tweeted his appreciation of May’s announcement about the timing of the start of the exit talks while warning that the rest of the EU was ready to “safeguard its interests” in the talks to come.

May laid out plans for a “great repeal bill”, under which four decades of EU legislation would become part of British law and could then be unpicked, the Guardian reported.

She insisted that workers’ rights would be guaranteed in law while she was Prime Minister, although the government reportedly did not list any examples of such legislation.

Germany and Italy reacted positively to the clear timetable. European leaders including the EU commission head Jean-Claude Juncker, German chancellor Angela Merkel, and Italian Prime Minister Matteo Renzi have said publicly that Britain must be allowed time to prepare its position.

But, in private talks with the prime minister, all have pushed hard for a clearer idea of plans, particularly because of the need for the UK to complete Brexit before the next elections to the European parliament in 2019.

Maltese Prime Minister Joseph Muscat tweeted that his administration was “geared to handle” the process when article 50 is triggered, which will take place during the country’s EU presidency.