EU to Britain: citizen rights and Brexit bill come before trade talks

Brussels (dpa) - An agreement on citizen rights and a final Brexit bill will have to come before any discussion on future British-EU trade agreements, cautioned European Council President Donald Tusk on Friday.By outlining guidelines for negotiations of how to manage Britain‘s departure from the bloc, Tusk laid out a Brussels agenda that runs counter to Britain‘s hopes of having such talks run consecutively.Speaking in Malta, Tusk said that talks on a trade agreement between the EU and Britain would only start once "sufficient progress had been made" regarding: citizen rights; Britain‘s financial obligations to the EU; and the question of how to maintain an open border between Ireland and Northern Ireland. Tusk said upcoming talks would be "difficult, complex and sometimes even confrontational." "There is no way around it. The EU27 does not and will not pursue a punitive approach. Brexit in itself is already punitive enough." The view was shared by Maltese Prime Minister Joseph Muscat, who predicted that negotiations "will be tough, but it will not be a war."Britain‘s membership of the EU is set to end on March 29, 2019.