EU sets out phased strategy for Brexit
Scotland makes
formal call to UK for independence vote
BBC
The EU has outlined its Brexit strategy, suggesting trade talks could begin after sufficient progress on a separation settlement with the UK, reports BBC.
The draft guidelines, announced by European Council President Donald Tusk in Malta, advocate a phased approach.
They will be sent to the 27 member states for approval and will set the tone for two years of negotiations.
In Brussels, the EUs foreign policy chief suggested the EU could manage without the UK in defence matters.
The UK formally triggered the Brexit process on Wednesday after calling for simultaneous talks on exit terms and future trade ties.
At a news conference, Tusk said: Starting parallel talks on all issues at the same time as suggested by some in the UK will not happen.
Only once we have achieved sufficient progress on the withdrawal can we discuss the framework for our future relationship.
Talks would be difficult, complex and sometimes even confrontational, he predicted, but the EU would not pursue a punitive approach.
UK Prime Minister Theresa May formally triggered the Brexit process by sending the Article 50 notification letter to Tusk on Wednesday.
The two are to meet in London ahead of an EU summit on Brexit, which will not include her, on 29 April.
Meanwhile, the Scottish government yesterday formally asked British Prime Minister Theresa May for a second referendum on independence, deepening a constitutional crisis sparked by the Brexit vote, adds AFP.
First Minister Nicola Sturgeon wrote a letter to May telling her that Scotland did not want to leave Europes single market, two days after Britain launched the process of leaving the European Union.
The people of Scotland must have the right to choose our own future, Sturgeon, leader of the ruling Scottish National Party, said in the letter.
Scotland voted to remain in the EU in last years referendum but Britain as a whole voted to leave.
Sturgeon argues that this means the circumstances have changed since a 2014 independence referendum in which 55 percent voted to stay part of Britain.
She said the government had rejected all attempts at compromise on Brexit -- a reference to her proposal for Scotland to be allowed to stay in the European single market even as the rest of Britain leaves.
There appears to be no rational reason for you to stand in the way of the will of the Scottish parliament and I hope you will not do so, she said.
The Scottish Parliament voted by 69 votes to 59 on Tuesday for another referendum, but it cannot hold a legally-binding vote without Londons approval.
Sturgeon has said she wants the referendum to be held by early 2019, before Britain leaves the EU.
However a government spokeswoman has reiterated Mays position that now is not the time for a second independence referendum, adding that the government will not be entering into negotiations on the Scottish governments proposal.
At this point, all our focus should be on our negotiations with the European Union, making sure we get the right deal for the whole of the UK, she added.
But Sturgeon said that the new referendum would give Scots the choice of following the UK out of the EU and single market on the terms you negotiate, or becoming an independent country.
May now faces a battle on two fronts as she seeks to negotiate a good deal from Brexit and tame nationalist sentiment in Scotland.
Opinion polls show support for independence is broadly unchanged from 2014, but Mays firm stance against discussing a vote now is widely regarded as a gamble as Scots could react unfavourably to London ignoring the will of the Edinburgh parliament. Sturgeon has already indicated she will take unspecified steps for holding a referendum anyway in case her request for one is ignored.
