Brexit negotiations clear first hurdle as real talks can start

LONDON, Dec. 8 (Xinhua) -- Britain cleared a major hurdle Friday in its journey to leave the European Union, with the door opening on a vital deal on the eventual relationship between the two.

After a dramatic night of negotiations the focus will now switch to a crucial meeting next week of the European Council when 27 member states will make a definitive decision on moving to trade talks.

With European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker and chief EU negotiator Michel Barnier agreeing to recommend the council to move to the next stage, the real talking will start in 2018 on shaping the relationship between the EU and Britain beyond the separation date of March 29, 2019.

The lengthy document agreed Friday does no more than pave the way for new talks, but it did spell out important issues such as the border between Northern Ireland and the Irish Republic as well as the future status of 3 million Europeans living in Britain.

The Irish prime minister Leo Varadkar summed up Friday's development, saying: "This is not the end but it is end of the beginning".

EU President Donald Tusk commented after an historic meeting in Brussels between both sides: "The toughest talks are yet to come".

"While being satisfied with today's agreement, which is obviously the personal success of Prime Minister Theresa May, let us remember that the most difficult challenge is still ahead. We all know that breaking up is hard. But breaking up and building a new relation is much harder," Tusk said, adding "since the Brexit referendum, a year and a half has passed. So much time has been devoted to the easier part of the task. And now, to negotiate a transition arrangement and the framework for our future relationship, we have de facto less than a year."

May and her chief negotiator the Brexit Secretary David Davis have to steer the process through a probing and challenging Houses of Parliament where many EU-supporting politicians harbor thoughts of Britain staying in the EU.

A final deal will also have to be agreed by the governments of the 27 member states of the EU.

In a commentary, the Times in London said: "These first talks on the divorce terms were the easy bit. The trade negotiations will be much, much harder," recalling an often repeated message from Prime Minister May: "Nothing is agreed until everything is agreed."

Before the ink was even dry on Friday's agreement, commentators and euro experts started to pour over every word to determine the meanings or every sentence, or seek hidden hurdles ahead in the small print.

Professor Iain Begg, Research Fellow at the European Institute at the London School of Economics (LSE), told Xinhua: "If there had not been a deal, it would have been calamitous: it is undoubtedly an achievement for Theresa May, albeit one which has cost her more political capital (an negotiating time) than it should have."

"There are elements in it that represent fudges, such as the commitment to 'regulatory alignment' without a clear definition of what the term means or the ambiguity about the eventual size of the 'divorce' bill. These ambiguities could lead to problems from one side or the other in the UK if they run counter to the preferences of Brexiteers or Remainers," he said. Enditem