London : European Council President Donald Tusk has said the EU will not punish Britain, because Brexit is “punishment enough”, as he released a set of draft guidelines on Friday for the two-year Brexit negotiations.
Tusk spoke at a news conference in Malta on Friday after the guidelines were sent to the heads of the 27 remaining members of the EU, reported the Independent.
The draft guidelines appeared to offer a concession to Prime Minister Theresa May, suggesting that talks on future trade arrangements could begin once “sufficient progress” was made on the initial Brexit deal.
Tusk said that the EU will not seek to punish Britain in the initial stages of the talks. “We will not be punitive. Brexit itself is punitive enough,” he said. Tusk will meet May in London ahead of an EU summit on Brexit, which will not include her, on April 29. –IANS
