Brendan Howlin (Wexford, Labour) | Oireachtas source

I am looking for clarity on the settling of the negotiating position of the 27 member states. From what the Taoiseach has said to me, it seems to be that he cannot begin the settlement of the negotiating position until negotiations begin. That makes no sense to me. If the EU is actually negotiating with Great Britain, it has to know what it wants to achieve. It cannot sit down when the negotiations begin without knowing what exactly are its objectives. I believe it will take some time for the 27 member states to agree a negotiating position. Is it to be, as the Taoiseach envisages it, a timescale of the British Government triggering Article 50 of the Lisbon treaty and then a period of time, probably weeks or maybe months, in which the 27 EU member states settle their position before settling down bilaterally with the United Kingdom to negotiate on each of those issues? Is that how the Taoiseach envisages the timescale?

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