The German Foreign Minister made the comments as withdrawal negotiations begin in Brussels between Brexit Secretary David Davis and the EU's chief negotiator Michel Barnier.
Both EU negotiator Michel Barnier and his British counterpart David Davis said after the first negotiating session they were confident of quick progress but said major challenges lay ahead to meet the deadline of March 2019 for Britain to officially leave the bloc.
Representatives for the United Kingdom (U.K.) and the European Union (EU) kicked off Brexit negotiations in Brussels on June 19, nearly 12 weeks after Britain's prime minister triggered the mechanism that would let it depart from the EU.
Anxious by immigration and loss of sovereignty, Britain voted past year to end its four-decades-old membership of the 28-country bloc - the first state ever to do so.
"So while there will undoubtedly be challenging times ahead of us in the negotiations, we will do all that we can to ensure we deliver a deal that works in the best interests of all citizens".
"Today we are launching negotiations on the orderly withdrawal of the United Kingdom from the EU", said Barnier, a former European commissioner and French foreign minister.
He listed the importance of reaching a rapid deal on the status of European Union nationals and the border between Northern Ireland and the Republic as priorities, but did not mention the size of the UK's "exit bill" for leaving the bloc, which is bound to be an early sticking-point.
An increasingly concerned European Union has been pushing London to hurry up, with time running out for a deal and three months already gone since May triggered the two-year Article 50 European Union exit process.
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"There will be no austerity on my side, I will display a constructive attitude firmly based on interests and support of the (EU) 27, and I will all the time seek to the continued support of the European Parliament", he said.
When Theresa May sent the EU Britain's formal notice to quit the EU in March, she wrote: "We therefore believe it is necessary to agree the terms of our future partnership alongside those of our withdrawal from the European Union".
"The most important thing for us is to look to the horizon, raise our eyes to the horizon". The Irish issue, long described as a priority for both, will be treated somewhat differently; avoiding a "hard border" will necessarily have to take account of how the rest of EU-UK trade will work.
The European Commission has made it clear that it wants the first talks to focus on the status of expats and this, along with other issues such as the so called "divorce bill" and the border between Ireland and Northern Ireland should be concluded before talks begin in a trade deal. Ominously for Britain and its hopes for a speedy trade deal, that EU-Canada pact took eight years from start to finish.
A year after Britons shocked the continent by voting on June 23 to cut loose from their main export market, new debate within Prime Minister Theresa May's cabinet on precisely what kind of trading relationship to pursue has perplexed European Union leaders, who warn time is tight to agree terms before Britain leaves in 2019.
"Sitting down for a first formal negotiation round is something in and of itself", an European Union source told AFP.
At a press conference in Brussels, Mr Davis said: "We discussed two aspects of it".
British Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson said Monday he still thinks that the Brexit negotiations will yield "a happy resolution that can be done with profit and honor for both sides". Allies of the Chancellor said he will admit the Government has given too little emphasis so far to the needs of business, including the UK's £71 billion financial sector.
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