'Time is short' for Brexit
The European Commission's chief Brexit negotiator yesterday warned that time was short for talks, with a crucial deal for Britain's departure from the EU needed by October 2018.
Frenchman Michel Barnier added it was "difficult to imagine" any interim deal giving Britain special treatment between its departure and a fuller trade pact further down the line.
The new timeline adds to the pressure on Prime Minister Theresa May as Britain's top court holds the second day of a historic hearing to decide whether parliament has to approve the negotiations.
"Time will be short. It's clear that the period of actual negotiations will be shorter than two years," Barnier said in his first press conference since taking up the post in October.
Barnier has visited 18 EU countries in recent weeks to hammer out a common position on Brexit and aims to hold talks in all 27 apart from Britain by the end of January.
The former EU financial services commissioner said that if May triggers the two-year divorce process under Article 50 of the EU's Lisbon Treaty as promised in March 2017, then the window for talks will be tight.
Britain voted to leave the EU in a shock referendum result in June, but May is yet to set out London's demands in detail, with the government seeking a balance between control over immigration and access to the EU's single market.
Barnier also warned Britain against "cherry-picking" what it wanted in terms of EU benefits despite leaving.
May however faces her own problems with up to 40 lawmakers from her Conservative party threatening to back a motion in parliament demanding she publish her plan for Brexit before starting negotiations.
It comes as the government fights a legal challenge at the Supreme Court to stop parliament having the final say on a decision to trigger Article 50, which could delay the whole process.
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