Britain sets out Brexit plan to ‘end European Union supremacy’

European Council President Donald Tusk said he will propose the draft negotiating guidelines to the leaders of the 27 countries that will remain in the EU when Britain leaves.

British Prime Minister Theresa May on Tuesday signed the historic letter that will launch Brexit when it is delivered to Brussels on Wednesday, a photo released by her office showed.

“Today my task is to propose draft negotiation guidelines to 27 leaders – to the 27, because from Wednesday after triggering Article 50, the United Kingdom is now on other side oft the negotiating table”.

After May triggered Article 50 of the Lisbon Treaty on Wednesday (March 29), Britain now has two years to negotiate the terms and separate itself from the EU.

“Third, we will also need to make sure that the United Kingdom honors all financial commitments and liabilities it has taken as a member state”.

“The EU is not adopting a punitive approach to Brexit, as Brexit is punitive enough”, he said.

Speaking at the meeting, German Chancellor Angela Merkel did not mention Brexit directly, but said the European Union must guarantee the prosperity and security of its citizens or risk them turning away.

Workers rights, environmental protection and consumer rights now enshrined in European Union laws would continue as before when Britain left, he added.

British Prime Minister Theresa May published columns in seven European papers on Thursday to stress that a Brexit deal was “in all our interests”, striking a conciliatory tone before negotiations begin.

After narrowly voting to leave the EU in June, British politicians haven’t had many nice things to say about their European partners.

A spokesman for the United Kingdom government said: “These are draft guidelines and we look forward to beginning negotiations once they have been formally agreed by the 27 member states”. The UK’s rights and obligations had to be addressed first, she said.

Key EU leaders such as German chancellor Angela Merkel, while sympathetic to Ireland’s concerns, have to date been wary of the mandate highlighting specific national interests of any member states.

However, David Davis warned that if a deal can not be reached it will not be good for either side.

Negotiations will only be able to move to the next phase once member states agree that sufficient progress has been made, and an agreement on the arrangements for an orderly withdrawal has been reached.

Confirming that clarifying the rights of European Union nationals in a post-Brexit Britain would be an early priority, May said she wanted not just to protect the rights of workers, but to build on them.

“It is only fair towards all those people, communities, scientists, farmers and so on to whom we, all the 28, promised and owe this money”, Tusk said.

“You need to do the withdrawal agreement and you have to have an agreement on what I should call the “general terms” of your future relationship”, he said.