Theresa May praises EU leaders for having Brexit talks tonight… before they kick her out of the meeting
THERESA May has welcomed the news that EU leaders are set to have talks about Brexit tonight in Brussels without her.
The other 27 member states in the EU will meet over dinner to discuss their plans for the upcoming Brexit negotiations.
Speaking as she arrived in Brussels for the final EU summit of the year, the PM said it was right that other leaders prepared for the divorce talks.
She said: "I welcome the fact that the other leaders will be meeting to discuss Brexit tonight as we are going to invoke Article 50, trigger the negotiations by the end of March next year.
"It's right that the other leaders prepare for those negotiations as we have been preparing."
The PM said that it was in the interests of the EU too to have a smooth exit.
"We will be leaving the EU, we want that to be a smooth and orderly process as possible," she said.
"It's not just in our interests, it's in the interests of the rest of Europe as well."
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Downing Street insisted that Mrs May had not sought to be present at tonight's dinner, and that the meeting showed the EU was finally facing up to the reality of Brexit.
"It shows they are facing up to the reality that the UK is leaving the EU, that we are going to be triggering Article 50 by the end of March," a spokesperson said.
"That means they are going to need to know how they are going to handle the process where they have got to work out the position of the 27."
Mrs May also said that the EU would be discussing critical issues today such as migration and the tragedy in Syria.
"We must do all we can to ensure a ceasefire is secured," she added.
Also on the agenda for talks is the Ukraine, Nato and economic matters.
While she is there, the PM will also hold bilateral meetings with the leaders of Latvia and Lithuania, as well as the President of the European Parliament, Martin Schultz.
The PM has already held talks with 23 EU leaders about Brexit.
Mrs May's visit comes as the UK's ambassador to the EU Sir Ivan Rogers warned today that it could take up to ten years to negotiate a Brexit deal.
But Downing Street indicated the Government believes it will be possible to complete both the "divorce deal" and a new trade agreement within the two-year time frame set out under Article 50 of the EU treaties.
"The intention is that we will have a deal within the time frame we have set out which sees us exit the EU and allows us to trade with and operate within the single market," said a Number 10 spokesman.
