EU chief negotiator Michel Barnier called parallel talks on Britain's exit from the EU and a future trade relationship "a very risky approach" that he is bent on avoiding. TOP EU BREXIT OFFICIAL SAYS BREXIT WOULD STUN CHURCHILLBarnier told EU legislators in Strasbourg, France, that "to succeed, we need on the contrary to devote the first phase of negotiations exclusively to reaching agreement on the principle of the exit." British Prime Minister Theresa May last week sought hand-in-hand negotiations on exit and a future relationship, while the EU Council president and EU top legislators argued against it. Both sides have a general agreement that they want to tackle the fate of the 3 million EU citizens in Britain and some 1 million Britons residing in the other EU nations first of all. The parliament's Brexit coordinator, Guy Verhofstadt, said it was perhaps best that there was never much positive passion in the cross-Channel relationship.

Source: Fox News April 05, 2017 18:33 UTC