LONDON: British Prime Minister Theresa May said on Thursday that she would trigger formal divorce talks with the European Union by the end of March, addressing a press conference with her counterpart from Italy Paolo Gentiloni, yesterday.
Gentiloni said there was no need for “destructive” negotiations on Britain’s withdrawal from the EU, after talks with May at Number 10 Downing Street in London.
Just weeks before the British leader is expected to start the formal process of Brexit, Gentiloni spoke in conciliatory terms about a divorce that has already sparked harsh words on both sides.
“We are aware of the fact that the negotiations will not be easy,” Gentiloni said at the joint press conference.
“We also know, and this will be certainly the Italian attitude, that we need to show a constructive and friendly approach.
“There is absolutely no point in having a destructive negotiation between the EU and the UK.”
The two leaders discussed the issue of the post-Brexit status of EU citizens living in Britain, alongside the question of migration into Europe, counter-terrorism and the challenge of Russia.
May has drawn criticism for refusing to guarantee the rights of Europeans in Britain, but has argued that she must first ensure reciprocal assurances for Britons living elsewhere in the EU.
She said: “When I trigger Article 50 I will make clear that I want this issue to be addressed at an early stage of the negotiations.”
Article 50 of the EU’s Lisbon treaty starts two years of exit negotiations. British MPs on Wednesday voted overwhelmingly to support a bill empowering May to begin the Brexit process, and the legislation moved to the unelected upper House of Lords yesterday.
But MPs rejected an attempt to amend the bill to include a guarantee for EU citizens.
Earlier, legislation empowering Prime Minister Theresa May to start Brexit negotiations moved to Britain’s House of Lords — with ministers urging peers to do their “patriotic duty” and back it.
MPs in parliament’s lower chamber, the House of Commons, overwhelmingly backed the bill late on Wednesday to allow May to trigger Article 50 of the EU’s Lisbon Treaty, which she has promised to do by the end of March.
Downing Street played down a warning by an unnamed government source that the unelected second chamber could face abolition if it stands in the way of Britain’s exit from the European Union.
But Brexit minister David Davis told Sky News: “I expect it to do its job and to do its patriotic duty and actually give us the right to go on and negotiate that new relationship (with the EU).”
The source had earlier told journalists that the Lords, which many believe has long been ripe for reform, “will face an overwhelming public call to be abolished if they now try and frustrate this bill”.
May’s Conservative party does not have a majority in the House of Lords, raising the possibility that peers may seek to block Brexit.
However, the opposition Labour leader in the chamber, Baroness Angela Smith, said in October that she would not be obstructive. “We will scrutinise; we will examine; we will not block,” she said.
Britain’s upper house, with 805 members, is the second-largest parliamentary chamber in the world, beaten only by China’s National People’s Congress.
The European Union (Notification of Withdrawal) Bill passed the Commons by 494 votes to 122 on Wednesday and after parliament takes a break next week, will be debated on the Lords starting on February 20.
Ministers hope it will be approved on March 7.
Members of the House of Commons voted by 494 votes to 122 for a law enabling May to trigger Article 50 of the EU’s Lisbon Treaty, which begins two years of talks on pulling out of the 28-nation bloc.
“We’ve seen a historic vote tonight — a big majority for getting on with negotiating our exit from the EU and a strong, new partnership with its member states,” said Brexit minister David Davis.
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