LONDON (Reuters) - The European Union’s chief Brexit negotiator Michel Barnier told Britain on Monday that the time had come for Britain to make a choice on what sort of relationship it wanted with the bloc after Brexit.

Britain's Secretary of State for Exiting the European Union David Davis and the European Union's chief Brexit negotiator Michel Barnier speak inside 10 Downing Street, London February 5, 2018. REUTERS/Stefan Rousseau/Pool

Britain has ruled out staying in any customs union with the EU after Brexit, but the nature of its trading relationship with the world’s biggest trading bloc has split Theresa May’s government and Conservative Party.

Barnier, speaking after talks in Downing Street with Prime Minister May and Brexit Secretary David Davis, bluntly called on Britain to clarify how it saw the future relationship with the EU after it leaves on March 29, 2019.

“The only thing I can say: without a customs union and outside the single market, barriers to trade and goods and services are unavoidable,” Barnier told reporters in Downing Street. “Time has come to make a choice.”

“We need also clarity on the UK proposals for the future partnership,” Barnier said.

Britain, Davis said, wanted a comprehensive free trade agreement and a customs agreement to make trade as frictionless as possible while being free to strike free trade deals with swiftly growing countries across the world.

Davis said the talks with Barnier had been constructive and that he was confident Britain could get agreement on a time-limited transition period by the March economic council which is scheduled for March 13.

With little more than a year left before Britain’s March 2019 exit from the European Union, May’s party remains deeply divided over what sort of relationship should be built between the EU and the world’s sixth-largest economy.

Such are the divisions within May’s government, that the debate over the extent of Britain’s possible post-Brexit participation in an EU customs union has taken place in public with key ministers offering a range of views.

“The conditions are clear: Everyone has to play by the same rules during this transition,” Barnier said. “The certainty about the transition will only come with the ratification of the withdrawal agreement.”

BREXIT TARIFFS?

Membership of the, or a, customs union after Brexit, would prevent London from striking trade deals with countries outside the EU in future.

While May has repeatedly said that Britain will leave the customs union, some ministers hope that Britain could remain in some sort of bespoke customs arrangement with the EU after Brexit.

May’s spokesman told reporters that Britain would leave the customs union and would not be a member of a customs union with the EU after Brexit.

“We are very keen that we continue to have an extremely good and close relationship, that relationship be on economic and other grounds, and that it will continue in long term,” Davis said.

“It’s perfectly clear what we want to do and there is no doubt about it,” Davis said.

Negative news around Brexit negotiations and surveys indicating a slowing British economy are sapping investor confidence in sterling GBP=D3, with it dipping 0.8 percent to $1.4005 on Monday, its lowest since Jan. 30.

A customs union means that its members apply the same tariff to goods imported into their territory from elsewhere and apply no tariffs to goods from other members. It also limits checks and other bureaucracies at borders between members.

Unless Britain negotiates a new trade deal with the EU, its exports would run into the union’s external tariffs, which average about 5 percent across all goods, including 10 percent for cars and over 200 percent on certain types of poultry.

But May is under pressure from eurosceptic members in her party to quit the trading arrangement because for them the key prize is chance to sign new trade deals with other nations such as the United States, China and India.

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May will hold two cabinet meetings on Wednesday and Thursday at which she will try to heal the deep divisions among her ministers over the best way to leave the EU.

If no deal is reached by October of this year, many businesses fear Britain could face a disorderly exit that would weaken the West, disrupt the peace in Northern Ireland, imperil Britain’s $2.7 trillion (£2 trillion) economy and undermine London’s position as the only financial centre to rival New York. </s> LONDON (Reuters) - The European Union’s Brexit negotiator Michel Barnier said on Monday there was not a minute to lose in talks on Britain’s divorce with the bloc, before meeting British Brexit minister David Davis in London.

“My feeling: we have not a minute to lose because we want to achieve a deal,” he told Sky News. </s> (EurActiv) — David Davis will host the EU’s chief Brexit negotiator Michel Barnier in London on Monday (5 February) just before the official talks on the UK’s exit from the EU and their future trade relations are due to resume next week.

In a post on Twitter on Friday (2 February), the Brexit Secretary said he was “looking forward to welcoming Michel Barnier to London on Monday. Important next step in our work to build new partnership between UK & EU.”

Barnier will also hold talks with Prime Minister Theresa May over a working lunch with Davis in Downing Street.

The meeting comes ahead of the next phase of talks in Brussels next week, between the 6 and 9 February, after EU leaders agreed in mid-December to move the talks along.

Davis has said he hopes to have an agreement on a transition period in time for an EU summit on 22 March. However, the May government has come under heavy attack from backbench Brexiteer MPs who have complained that being subject to EU laws without being able to influence them, while also paying into the EU budget, would make the UK a “vassal state”.

“The prime minister has an open mind when it comes to these negotiations,” a Downing Street spokesperson said on Friday.

For his part, International Trade Secretary Liam Fox insisted on Friday that the UK would not be involved in any customs union with the EU following Brexit.

The European Council will publish its guidelines in March on the future trading relationship.

Davis has defended a transition period as the only way the UK can negotiate trade pact with third countries. However, the UK has made little progress towards preparing the ground for this, and confirmed last year that it wants to roll over all of the existing EU-third country trade deals.

That has prompted speculation that May could seek an extension of the Article 50 process rather than a two year transition.

“This is actually likelier than it sounds because of the legal difficulty of rolling over more than 750 international agreements between the EU and third countries, a senior diplomatic source told EURACTIV. </s> 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> (Leon Neal/Pool Photo via AP, File). FILE- In this June 6, 2018 file photo, Britain's Secretary of State for Exiting the European Union David Davis delivers a speech in London, on Britain's vision for the future security relationship with the EU. Briti...

LONDON (AP) - The Latest on Brexit (all times local):

British Prime Minister Theresa May has named Jeremy Hunt to the job of foreign secretary after the resignation of Boris Johnson.

Hunt, who had been the health secretary, is considered one of May's most loyal ministers.

May's government was rocked Monday by the resignations of Johnson and Brexit Secretary David Davis. They quit amid divisions in the government over Brexit.

Johnson and Davis advocate a clean break with the European Union, known as "hard Brexit." Hunt, who backed the "remain" side in Britain's 2016 EU membership referendum, favors keeping close economic ties to the bloc after the U.K. leaves next year.

Now-former British Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson has slammed Prime Minister Theresa May in a resignation letter, accusing her of flying "white flags" of surrender in negotiations with the European Union.

Johnson, one of the most vocal and popular proponents of Britain's exit from the European Union, quit as Britain's top diplomat on Monday. His move came hours after Brexit Secretary David Davis also resigned, blowing open divisions over how to leave the EU that threaten to topple May's government.

Johnson said in his letter that May's plan to keep close economic ties with the bloc means the U.K. is heading for a "semi-Brexit" that would leave Britain with the "status of colony" within the EU.

He said: "The Brexit dream is dying, suffocated by needless self-doubt "

May's supporters worry that more ministers could resign, and pro-Brexit lawmakers from her Conservative Party could trigger a no-confidence vote in the prime minister.

The White House says President Donald Trump "continues to look forward to" his meeting with British Prime Minister Theresa May this week despite the turmoil that Brexit is creating in her government.

May defended her plan for Britain's exit from the European Union after British Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson and Brexit Secretary David Davis both resigned.

White House spokeswoman Sarah Huckabee Sanders said in a statement Monday that "The President continues to look forward to his working visit with the Prime Minister on July 13, and further strengthening the U.S.-U.K. special relationship."

Trump will make his maiden voyage to the U.K. as president following a NATO summit in Brussels and before heading to Helsinki for a summit with Russia's Vladimir Putin.

Prime Minister Theresa May has defended her post-Brexit trade plan that sparked Cabinet resignations, saying it is the only way to avoid a hard border with Ireland.

May told the House of Commons on Monday that her program - which would allow the free movement of goods, but not services - is the "right Brexit " because it would make it possible to avoid checks at the border between the republic and Northern Ireland. Northern Ireland is part of the U.K.

Lawmakers howled as a beleaguered May paid tribute to two senior members of her Cabinet who resigned rather than accept her proposals.

May said: "What we are proposing is challenging for the EU. It requires them to think again, to look beyond the positions they have taken so far and to agree a new and fair balance of rights and obligations "

Prime Minister Theresa May has paid tribute to two key Cabinet ministers who resigned rather than accept her plan for Britain's departure from the European Union.

May told the House of Commons on Monday that Brexit Secretary David Davis and Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson made important contributions to Britain, but did not agree with her about "the best way" of delivering Brexit.

She said: "We do not agree about the best way of delivering our shared commitment to honoring the result of the referendum" voters approved to leave the EU.

Davis resigned as Brexit secretary late Sunday, saying he could not support proposals to maintain close trade and regulatory ties with the EU. Johnson resigned Monday only moments before May spoke.

Top European Union officials say Brexit is becoming a mess for Europe following the resignations of the U.K.'s chief Brexit negotiator and foreign secretary.

Britain's Brexit secretary, David Davis quit late Sunday and Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson submitted his resignation on Monday.

European Council President Donald Tusk said Monday that it is unfortunate that the whole "idea of Brexit has not left together with David Davis."

Tusk added: "The mess caused by Brexit is the biggest problem in the history of EU-UK relations and it is still very far from being resolved, with or without Mr. Davis."

Asked about his reaction to Johnson's resignation, EU Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker said sarcastically that "this clearly proves that at Chequers, there was unity in the cabinet."

Juncker's remarks were a reference to a 12-hour British Cabinet meeting at Prime Minister Theresa May's country residence on Friday that was supposed to have resolved internal disagreement over Brexit.

The British government says Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson has resigned, amid a widening split in the Cabinet over Brexit.

Prime Minister Theresa May's office said May accepted the resignation on Monday and will announce a replacement soon.

A leader of the campaign to take Britain out of the European Union, Johnson was under pressure to act after the resignation of David Davis as Brexit secretary.

Davis quit late Sunday saying he could not support May's plans for close trade and regulatory ties with the bloc after the U.K. leaves the European Union next year.

British Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson has not arrived at an international meeting in London, fueling speculation that he plans to resign over differences with Prime Minister Theresa May on Brexit.

Johnson was due to host the Western Balkans Summit on Monday. But German Minister of State for Europe Michael Roth tweeted that by early afternoon "We're still waiting for our host..."

Johnson is scheduled to hold a news conference at the summit later.

A leader of the campaign to take Britain out of the European Union, Johnson is under pressure to act after the resignation of David Davis as Brexit secretary.

Davis quit late Sunday saying he could not support May's plans for close trade and regulatory ties with the bloc after the U.K. leaves the European Union next year.

British Prime Minister Theresa May's office insists the government's plans for leaving the European Union are on track despite the resignation of the top official in the Brexit department.

David Davis resigned as Brexit secretary late Sunday, saying he couldn't support proposals to maintain close trade and regulatory ties with the EU.

Davis was replaced Monday with Dominic Raab, a lawmaker who strongly supports Britain's EU exit.

Davis's resignation shattered a fragile peace in May's government, which is split between supporters of "hard" and "soft" Brexit. Britain is due to leave the EU in March.

May's official spokesman, James Slack, says "we need to move forward at pace in these negotiations, and that's what we are going to do."

He says "there is now a new secretary of state and we look forward to moving on."

The European Union says it will push on with Brexit talks despite the resignation of Britain's chief negotiator, and is ready to work with his replacement.

European Commission spokesman Margaritis Schinas says Monday that "we will continue to negotiate in good will, bona fide, with Prime Minister Theresa May and the UK government negotiators in order to reach a deal."

Asked whether the appointment of Dominic Raab would affect the negotiations, Schinas said it mattered for Britain but not necessarily the EU: "What matters for us is the negotiating framework that our 27 member states have set for us."

He said EU negotiators stand ready to work through the summer if needed to reach an agreement. Britain officially leaves the EU at midnight on March 29 next year.

The German government says it's confident the British government can continue to act on Brexit despite the resignation of the minister tasked with the job of negotiating with the European Union.

Foreign Ministry spokesman Rainer Breul said Monday that while Germany doesn't generally comment on foreign Cabinet reshuffles, "we have no doubt the British side remains capable of acting" on Brexit.

Britain's Brexit minister, David Davis, quit late Sunday, two days after Prime Minister Theresa May announced she had united her quarrelsome government behind a plan for a divorce deal with the EU.

Separately, German government spokeswoman Martina Fietz downplayed talk of discord on Brexit between Chancellor Angela Merkel and her top security official. Interior Minister Horst Seehofer had warned last week of security risks when Britain leaves the EU.

Britain's government has named former Housing Minister Dominic Raab to take up the post of senior official in charge of negotiating the country's exit from the European Union, after his predecessor resigned.

Prime Minister Theresa May's office announced the appointment in a Monday statement. Raab, a Brexit supporter, follows David Davis, who had accused May of undermining Brexit with her plan to keep close trade ties with the bloc.

Davis quit just two days after May announced she had finally united her quarrelsome government behind a plan for a divorce deal with the EU.

The European Parliament's chief Brexit official is urging Britain to look beyond the departure of its chief negotiator and move forward quickly to clinch a deal with the EU.

Guy Verhofstadt said that "it is in the interest of the both that we move the negotiations forward."

Verhofstadt hopes "the UK unites around a position to conclude a broad Association Agreement with the EU."

In a blow to the British government, Davis quit late Sunday, saying he could not support Prime Minister Theresa May's plan for close trade and regulatory ties with the EU after Brexit next year.

His resignation came just two days after May announced she had finally united her quarrelsome government behind a plan for a divorce deal with the EU.

Former Brexit Secretary David Davis says he won't seek to challenge Prime Minister Theresa May's leadership after resigning from her Cabinet, but that he will pressure her to toughen her position on Britain's departure from the European Union.

Davis says he resigned because he didn't feel he best suited to carry the divorce deal forward, telling the BBC Monday that he doesn't want his resignation to become a rallying cry for May's ouster. He says "I like Theresa May, I think she's a good prime minister."

But he says they had a difference of strategy and hoped the decision would send a signal to the EU not to push Britain any further in Brexit negotiations.

Davis's late-night resignation undermined May's already fragile government, which has lost several ministers this year.

Copyright 2018 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed. </s> EU chief negotiator Michel Barnier will meet British Prime Minister Theresa May in London on Monday, with tensions in her government over her Brexit strategy coming to a head.

Barnier will discuss the upcoming negotiations with the UK's Brexit minister David Davis ahead of talks between British and EU officials in Brussels from Tuesday to Friday.

London and Brussels struck a preliminary deal on key Brexit issues in December but are yet to discuss the conditions for a post-Brexit transition period and future trade relations.

Britain has said it wants to leave the European single market and customs union and retain strong economic ties with the EU, but May has yet to bring together her divided government to produce a final plan.

High-profile pro-Brexit ministers Boris Johnson and Michael Gove are later this week set for a cabinet meeting showdown with europhile ministers, led by finance minister Philip Hammond, as they battle to shape Britain's post-Brexit vision.

Johnson and Gove are ready to deliver an ultimatum to prevent May backtracking on plans to fully leave the customs union, according to the Sunday Times.

Brexit supporters within May's Conservative Party would be prepared to replace the premier with Johnson and install Gove as his deputy, with influential backbencher Jacob Rees-Mogg drafted in as finance minister, the newspaper reported.

Such a move would enrage the sizeable minority of pro-EU Tory MPs, raising the spectre of another general election.

The internal tensions exploded into public view last week when Rees-Mogg, who is the bookmaker's favourite to become the next party leader, accused Hammond's department of "fiddling the books" in providing gloomy forecasts of Brexit's economic impact.

Tory MP and Brexit supporter Bernard Jenkin wrote in the Sunday Telegraph that May "can only command a majority in parliament on her present policy," a thinly veiled threat that Brexiteers would be prepared to bring down her vulnerable government.

Pro-EU interior minister Amber Rudd hit back on Sunday, telling BBC's Andrew Marr: "I have a surprise for the Brexiteers, which is the committee that meets in order to help make these decisions is more united than they think."

Downing Street on Friday rejected a Financial Times report that ministers are privately considering a customs union deal for post-Brexit trade, which could hamper its ability to strike trade deals with the rest of the world.

In an interview in Shanghai with Bloomberg TV, International Trade Secretary Liam Fox ruled this out, saying: "We have to be outside of that to take advantage of those growing markets."

Britain voted to leave the European Union in a momentous referendum in June 2016 that revealed a bitterly divided nation, sparked a tumultuous period in British politics and caused global shockwaves.

Although Britain will officially leave the bloc in March next year, it hopes to secure a two-year transition deal to taper the effects of Brexit.

Terms of the transition deal will be on the negotiating table this week, with key issues up for debate including immigration, Britain's ability to strike third-party trade deals, and whether Britain will have to abide by new EU laws.

Barnier has said that Britain "will continue to have all the economic benefits, therefore it must apply all the rules" during this period.

However, May appears set on a collision course with the EU after questioning the rights of EU citizens who arrive in Britain during the transition period.

May insisted Friday she was "doing what the British people want" and going nowhere despite the pressure.

Sensing a lack of coordination in government on Brexit, pro-EU politicians have become increasingly vociferous.

Labour MP Chuka Umunna, head of a new coalition of pro-EU groups formed this week, told AFP on Friday that the government was "trying to deliver something that isn't deliverable".

"If the people started this in 2016, they should be the ones who decide how we end it, and whether or not we do actually leave," Umunna told AFP while campaigning in Brixton in south London. </s> LONDON (Reuters) - The European Union’s chief Brexit negotiator Michel Barnier said on Monday that the time had come for Britain to make a choice on what sort of relationship it wanted with the bloc after Brexit.

“The only thing I can say: without a customs union and outside the single market, barriers to trade and goods and services are unavoidable,” Barnier said. “Time has come to make a choice.”

Barnier said he wanted the United Kingdom to clarify its position on what the future relationship would be. Britain’s Brexit Secretary David Davis said he was confident he could get agreement on a transition by the March EU summit. </s> (CNN) "Enemies of the People" -- that was the headline splashed across Britain's Daily Mail the morning after Thursday's Brexit bombshell.

For newspapers in Europe, reaction was more muted.

The UK High Court's ruling that lawmakers should vote on whether the government begins the formal Brexit process barely made the headlines in German newspapers.

Meanwhile, British Prime Minister Theresa May made calls to German Chancellor Angela Merkel, French President Francois Holland and European Union Commission President, Jean-Claude Juncker.

"The Prime Minister also confirmed that the Government's planned timetable for notification of Article 50 remains unchanged."

"The President explicitly stressed that he respects the legal order and constitutional order of the UK.

"This is now a British affair."

EU leaders, it appeared on Friday, are content to sit back and watch Britain's legal scramble.

Publicly, at least, no one appeared worried about how or when Britain exits the Union.

In Berlin, Britain's Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson -- a leading Brexit campaigner -- also downplayed the High Court's ruling.

"I wouldn't really read too much into the legal challenges," Johnson said.

"The British people voted to leave the European Union. I do not think it will interfere with the timetable for that process."

When asked what the German preferred outcome would be, Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier quipped: "I would have preferred a different outcome to the British referendum."

While the British government deals with court challenges, the EU has been assembling a formidable negotiating team for Brexit.

French federalist and chief negotiator Michel Barnier immediately embarked on a tour of all the remaining 27 EU states, diving into the back-room talks necessary to keep the EU united and in line before Article 50 is invoked.

He also swiftly installed Sabine Weyand -- a senior German negotiator and seasoned veteran of many EU trade deals -- as his deputy.

Rumors quickly spread that Barnier would demand Brexit negotiations in French, not English.

He swiftly batted speculation away by tweeting that he speaks both languages fluently and the official language of talks would be determined at the beginning of negotiations.

But Barnier is not beyond teasing his British counterparts. He recently tweeted a photo from his EU tour in front of the Museum of Broken Relationships.

However, behind the seemingly cool facade of EU leaders there is worry and concern about the negative impact of Brexit on the EU.

This week, the German Council of Economic Experts handed Merkel a report that urged the Chancellor to negotiate a deal that limited the damage of Brexit.

It also stated, perhaps hopefully, that "Brexit can still be prevented." </s> EU negotiator warns 'not a minute to lose' in Brexit talks

The EU's chief negotiator Michel Barnier stressed the urgency of Brexit talks ahead of a meeting with Prime Minister Theresa May on Monday, with her government still deeply divided on the negotiations.

Barnier will also meet the UK's Brexit minister David Davis ahead of talks between British and European Union officials in Brussels from Tuesday to Friday.

Reports in recent days that some government ministers will seek to keep Britain in a customs union with the EU in order to safeguard trade ties have raised tensions between pro-EU and pro-Brexit factions.

But ahead of Barnier's visit, May's spokesman said that Britain did not want to be in a customs union with the EU once it leaves the bloc.

"It is not the government's policy to be a member of the customs union or a customs union," he told a daily briefing on Monday, saying the two options were instead "a new customs partnership" or "a highly streamlined customs arrangement".

London and Brussels struck a preliminary deal on key Brexit issues in December but are yet to discuss the conditions for a post-Brexit transition period and future trade relations.
After talks with Prime Minister of the United Kingdom Theresa May and Secretary of State for Exiting the European Union David Davis in London, E.U. chief negotiator Michel Barnier calls on the United Kingdom to make a choice on what sort of future relationship it wants with the European Union after Brexit.