European Union bosses: Brexit negotiations will ‘protect interests’ of EU

Junker’s comments come after European Union leaders met in the Slovak capital with the British conspicuously absent. He said officials agreed “never to allow for the return of uncontrolled refugee flows of a year ago and to ensure full control of our external border to get back to [the passport free] Schengen [zone]”.

Mr Fico added: ‘V4 countries will be uncompromising.

Defence cooperation, particularly in defence industries and procurement, is being strongly promoted by Italy, France and Germany, while for other states making their workforce feel more secure in the face of a globalising economy is the priority.

The UK would exercise its power of veto to block the creation of an EU army while it remains a member of the European Union, according to Defence Secretary Sir Michael Fallon.

The EU, a bloc of 500 million people, has been under siege since the 2008 global financial crash threw millions out of work and austerity policies undercut its claim that it alone guaranteed a better economic future. “I mean the interests of the 27 countries, not the leaving country”. It says: “The legal consequences would be that the United Kingdom would be required to pay a fine”.

British Prime Minister Theresa May has signalled that she could be ready to launch formal Brexit negotiations in January or February next year, European Council President Donald Tusk said on Friday, citing a recent talk with May.

“We are not going to back out of our commitment to keeping Europe secure but we don’t want to see unnecessary bureaucracy at the European Union level when we have got it in North Atlantic Treaty Organisation”. We will not allow this negotiation to damage our interest. “This is clearly about domestic politics”, one senior official said. There are more advantages than disadvantages being a member state. “We will have our original positions, but we will not push it at the price of damaging the EU”, Mr Fico said.

Mr Fico said in an interview the European Union had also shifted from a debate over mandatory quotas to a new principle of “flexible solidarity” over the migrant crisis. He further stressed that all fundamental freedoms must be respected, rejecting hints that some flexibility could be introduced for the freedom of movement of workers, versus the free movement of persons. “I can not see any possibility of compromising on that issue”, he said.

He said the “Bratislava process” would continue for the next six months, with leaders of 27 member states scheduled to meet again in December in Malta’s capital Valletta, and next year in Rome, to hammer out the new vision.

Former Polish premier Tusk said Friday’s talks were “sober but not defeatist”.

The delay is causing concern in Britain among Eurosceptics who would like to see Article 50 triggered sooner. “There is no time for things that divide us”, he said. “We can either come out of this crisis weaker and conflicted, or stronger and more united”, Tusk wrote.