"The election outcome is casting uncertainty on how the Brexit negotiations process will unfold and what the British position will be, while the clock is ticking as the deadline for the conclusion of the talks moves ever-closer", said Rem Korteweg, head of unit "Europe in the World" at Clingendael, the Dutch institute for global relations.
European Commission President Jean Claude-Juncker, also said earlier on Friday in Prague that the EU "can open negotiation tomorrow morning at 09.30".
Britain was plunged into political turmoil on Friday after Prime Minister Theresa May's Conservative Party lost its parliamentary majority in a snap election just days before negotiations on leaving the European Union were set to kick off. "I do hope that the result of the elections will have no major impact on the negotiations we are desperately waiting for", he said.
With Brexit talks due to begin in just over a week, Britain's shock election results may soften the government's strategy-if there is even a government formed to negotiate in Brussels by then.
When the talks do begin, there could be a very different approach from the "hard Brexit" advocated by May that would involve leaving Europe's single market and curbing European immigration.
British voters dealt Prime Minister Theresa May a punishing blow, denying her the stronger mandate she had sought to conduct Brexit talks and instead weakening her party's grip on power.
May Friday insisted that she would stick to the Brexit timetable.
For now, the scramble in London is over the shape of the government. Pausing that clock while the mess in the United Kingdom is sorted out would need the agreement of the EU's other 27 countries. Bohuslav Sobotka said that too much time had already been wasted.
Guy Verhofstadt, the European Parliament's Brexit co-ordinator, described the General Election result as "yet another own goal" for the UK.
IOS 11 may support higher-quality music files with FLAC lossless audio
Transferring money was never easy but thanks to Apple Pay , you can send money from the Messages apps. From there you can already download the current file for iOS 11 and have it installed on your iPhone.
Tusk said the March 2019 deadline "leaves us with no time to lose".
The 318 seats won by the Conservatives in the election on Thursday, plus the 10 DUP seats will give May the majority she needs in the House of Commons.
The talks were set to officially begin on June 19.
Some compared her to her predecessor David Cameron, who sought to silence Eurosceptic fellow Conservatives by calling the referendum on European Union membership last June that ended his career and shocked Europe.
Within the two years of talks, Britain wants to not only agree on the terms of its exit but also negotiate a new relationship on things like trade and security.
"The question is now whether a coalition government will make Britain a more constructive negotiating partner, perhaps moving away from the "hard Brexit" posturing of the past months, which does not seem to be the case", said Joris Larik, senior researcher at The Hague Institute for Global Justice. "I am fully committed to maintaining regular and close contact at our level to facilitate the work of our negotiators".
"As far as the European Union is concerned, we are ready to open negotiations" on Britain's exit from the European Union, he added.
But EU budget commissioner Guenther Oettinger said Britain's May was now likely to be a "weak" partner. I hope that the British will be able to form as soon as possible a stable government.
Comments