Brussels, June 19 - Brexit talks between EU chief negotiator Michel Barnier and British Brexit Secretary David Davis began Monday. "Today we kick off negotiations for an orderly withdrawal of Britain from the EU," said Barnier. "We must face the uncertainties caused by Brexit, for citizens, for the beneficiaries of European policies" and for border issues, "especially Irish ones". Barnier said he hopes there would be a "constructive" opening to the talks, which will lead to the UK's exit in March 2019. </s> The UK will begin historic talks to leave the European Union on Monday (19 June), one year after voters opted to quit the bloc in a referendum.

Britain’s Brexit minister David Davis, the EU’s chief negotiator Michel Barnier, and their teams will start their meeting in Brussels at 11AM and will end the day with a press conference.

The talks begin amid uncertainty on the UK government’s intentions after British voters appeared to reject its so-called hard Brexit manifesto in a snap election on 8 June, when the ruling Conservative Party lost its majority in parliament.

Davis is to say on Monday that Britain wants “both sides to emerge strong and prosperous,” according to a statement by the UK's department for exiting the EU.

At stake is how to untangle over 44 years of a complex relationship that is enshrined in thousands of pages of legal texts.

It will need to be resolved in less than two years, with the UK to exit the EU on March 2019 whether there is a deal or not, unless the 27 other member states decide to extend negotiations.

The talks begin as British prime minister Theresa May holds talks with Northern Ireland’s Democratic Unionist Party (DUP), whose support she now needs to form a minority government.

French president Emmanuel Macron and Germany’s finance Minister Wolfgang Schaeuble have said the EU door “remains open” if the UK changed its mind on Brexit.

But the British government has ruled this out.

"Despite European leaders’ attempts to leave open the possibility of the UK remaining in the EU, Mr Davis will make it clear that he is determined to achieve a Brexit deal that works for the whole of the UK,” the British statement said.

It said Davis entered the talks "confident that he can get a positive outcome and secure a new deep and special partnership with the EU” as well as a “bold and ambitious deal”.

One year on from the Brexit referendum, the EU has put together a negotiating team and has published its position on the rights of EU citizens in the UK and UK citizens in the EU.

It has also spoken out on what Britain’s financial settlement with the EU ought to entail.

The process has created rare unity among the 27 remaining member states, whose leaders will be briefed by May at an EU summit at the end of the week.

Meanwhile, the UK’s position on what sort of future relationship it wants with the EU is still unclear.

Officials and diplomats in Brussels have voiced concern on the lack of preparation on the British side.

"It seems they still have not realised what this is all about," a senior EU member state diplomat recently told EUobserver.

May’s letter triggering the so called Article 50 exit procedure is still the most detailed document on the UK’s intention.

It highlights deep divisions between the UK and the EU’s approach to talks, especially on the sequencing of the negotiations, with the UK wanting to sort out the financial settlement in parallel with an agreement on future relations.

May has advocated a hard Brexit, leaving both the single market and the customs union.

There seems to have been no significant change in that approach since the election, but analysts have suggested that part of the reason for May’s failure was opposition to a hard Brexit.

The UK’s finance minister Philip Hammond, seen as an advocate for a softer Brexit with keeping the UK in the customs union, told the BBC on Sunday that Britain’s hard line stays.

"We will leave the customs union when we leave the European Union. That's a statement of legal fact," he said.

Hammond also said that leaving the UK without a deal would be “a very, very bad outcome” despite May previously saying that no deal is better than a bad deal. Hammond added however that a deal designed to punish the UK would be unacceptable. </s> EU chief says start of Brexit talks "likely" early next year

BRATISLAVA, Slovakia (AP) — European Union President Donald Tusk is predicting that Britain will trigger the start of its exit negotiations from the bloc early next year.

Tusk said following an EU summit held without Britain that he had met recently with British Prime Minister Theresa May, who told him it was not going to happen as soon as many EU leaders had hoped after the June 23 referendum to leave the EU.

Tusk said Friday that "she declared that it is almost impossible to trigger Article 50 this year," referring to the rule that covers exit negotiations. "But it is quite likely that they will ready maybe in January, maybe in February next year."

The 27 other EU leaders started talks on Friday on how to revamp the EU. </s> LONDON (AP) - Anti-Brexit protesters are gathering in central London for a demonstration calling for a second referendum on Britain's exit from the European Union.

Around 150 buses are ferrying thousands of protesters from across the country to the British capital. The march will begin at noon (1100 GMT) and will be followed by a rally in Parliament Square.

Andrew Adonis, a Labour member of the House of Lords, said: "This week's fresh chaos and confusion over Brexit negotiations has exposed how even the best deal now available will be a bad one for Britain ... Voters will neither forgive nor forget if (lawmakers) allow this miserable Brexit to proceed without people being given the final say."

Britain is scheduled to leave the EU on March 29, but negotiations have been plagued by disagreements.

British Prime Minister Theresa May walks off the podium after a media conference during an EU summit in Brussels, Thursday, Oct. 18, 2018. EU leaders met for a second day on Thursday to discuss migration, cybersecurity and to try and move ahead on stalled Brexit talks. (AP Photo/Alastair Grant) </s> BRUSSELS (AP) — British Prime Minister Theresa May is kicking off a big Brexit weekend as she travels to the European Union headquarters in Brussels for talks on Saturday with key leaders. Spanish objections over…

BRUSSELS (AP) — British Prime Minister Theresa May is kicking off a big Brexit weekend as she travels to the European Union headquarters in Brussels for talks on Saturday with key leaders.

Spanish objections over the status of Gibraltar — the tiny territory ceded to Britain in 1713 but is still claimed by Spain — is the only dispute left hanging ahead of Sunday’s summit of EU leaders.

May will meet with EU Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker and Council President Donald Tusk in the evening.

May hopes to leave Brussels on Sunday with a firm agreement on the withdrawal terms for Britain’s departure from the EU on March 29, as well as a comprehensive negotiating text on how future relations should look like once both sides agree on a trade agreement.

Copyright © 2018 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, written or redistributed. </s> Negotiations over the U.K.'s exit from the European Union are now underway in Brussels on Monday. The U.K.'s Brexit Secretary David Davis and the EU's chief negotiator, Michel Barnier, shook hands in front of photographers to mark the beginning of talks nearly one year after the U.K.'s Brexit referendum. Davis is aiming to create a "strong and special partnership" with the EU, according to a BBC report. Britain will exit the EU's single market and customs union, said U.K. Treasury chief Philip Hammond on Sunday. But no Brexit deal for the U.K. would be a "very, very bad outcome," Hammond said on BBC1's "The Andrew Marr Show" show. The pound was trading at $1.2805 on Monday, still sharply lower from around $1.50 when voting in the U.K.'s referendum on June 23, 2016, was taking place. </s> BRUSSELS (AP) — British Prime Minister Theresa May is kicking off a big Brexit weekend as she travels to the European Union headquarters in Brussels for talks on Saturday with key leaders.

Spanish objections over the status of Gibraltar — the tiny territory ceded to Britain in 1713 but is still claimed by Spain — is the only dispute left hanging ahead of Sunday’s summit of EU leaders.

May will meet with EU Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker and Council President Donald Tusk in the evening.

May hopes to leave Brussels on Sunday with a firm agreement on the withdrawal terms for Britain’s departure from the EU on March 29, as well as a comprehensive negotiating text on how future relations should look like once both sides agree on a trade agreement. </s> Tajani continued to state that if no deal is struck, the partnership between Brussels and London "will be controlled by the norms of the [World Trade Organization] WTO, which include among others tariffs for the goods."

In order to help maintain good relations between the European Union and the United Kingdom, in particular in the area of counterterrorism and defense, Tajani stressed that it is crucial a "clear agreement" is reached during the talks.

"We are hoping that the talks will be successful, and the European Union will be able to speak on the issue of the agreement at the beginning of 2019," the head of the European Parliament said.

The United Kingdom's exit from the European Union formally began on Wednesday, after it was confirmed that a letter triggering Article 50 of the Lisbon treaty, penned and signed by UK Prime Minister Theresa May, was delivered to European Council President Donald Tusk. According to Article 50, the United Kingdom now has two years to complete the negotiations, and must leave the European Union on March 29, 2019.

The talks between London and Brussels are expected to be mainly focused on the issue of mutual recognition of the rights of EU nationals in the United Kingdom and UK citizens in the European Union, as well as on maintaining free access to the markets and freedom of movement. The talks are expected to begin as early as this coming May. </s> Brexit negotiations which could define the UK's political and economic future have begun, with David Davis calling for a "new deep and special partnership" between Britain and Brussels.

The Brexit Secretary acknowledged there would be "challenging times ahead" as he met the European Commission's chief negotiator Michel Barnier for the formal start of the talks.

He vowed to seek "a deal that works in the best interests of all citizens" with Mr Barnier as the pair began their discussions at the commission's Berlaymont headquarters in the Belgian capital.

Mr Barnier made clear that Brussels intends to stick to its timetable of dealing with the terms of Britain's "orderly" withdrawal before moving on to discussing future trade relations.

"Our objective is clear. We must first tackle the uncertainties caused by Brexit, first for citizens but also for the beneficiaries of EU policies and for the impact on borders, in particular Ireland," he said.

He said he hoped that during their single day of talks, he and Mr Davis would be able to identify priorities and a timetable, so that he can report back to leaders of the other 27 EU states at the European Council summit in Brussels on Thursday that there had been a "constructive opening of negotiations".

Mr Davis - who earlier said that he was hoping to negotiate a "deal like no other in history" - said the bonds between the UK and EU would continue after Brexit.

Monday morning's terror attack in London and the devastating fires in Portugal reminded him that "there is more that unites us than divides us".

He said: "It is at testing times like these that we are reminded of the values and the resolve that we share with our closest allies in Europe. There is more that unites us than divides us.

"While there will undoubtedly be challenging times ahead of us in the negotiations we will do all that we can to ensure that we deliver a deal that works in the best interests of all citizens."

The talks expected to stretch for around 16-18 months ahead of the UK's withdrawal from the EU in 2019.

Mr Barnier's insistence on sticking to the EU's priorities for the negotiations comes after Mr Davis appeared to soften his stance on the schedule for the talks.

Before the General Election, ministers had insisted that talks on a future trading relationship must take place in parallel with the negotiations on the divorce from Brussels, with Mr Davis warning in May that it would be the "row of the summer".

But a week ago Mr Davis said "we will start down this process but I will have some discussions with Mr Barnier about how we progress" to trade talks.

Officials have made clear that the Government still wants to negotiate its future trade relationship with the EU alongside talks on the terms for Brexit.

A spokesman for the Department for Exiting the European Union said: "We believe that the withdrawal process cannot be concluded without the future relationship also being taken into account."

The talks in Brussels consist of an opening session with both Mr Davis and Mr Barnier each joined by a large team of officials.

The Brexit Secretary and Mr Barnier will then have a short private meeting without any officials before a working dinner with just their key advisers.

Brexit department mandarin Olly Robbins and the UK's ambassador to the EU, Sir Tim Barrow, will join Mr Davis for the lunch session.

Working groups will discuss aspects of the negotiations in the afternoon before a final meeting between Mr Davis and Mr Barnier.

Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson, in Luxembourg for a meeting with EU counterparts, said the process would lead to a "happy resolution that can be done with profit and with honour for both sides".

He said it was time to "raise our eyes to the horizon" adding that "in the long run, this will be good for the UK and good for the rest of Europe".
Brexit negotiations begin in Brussels.