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20:43, 17-Nov-2017
EU leaders attend summit on fair jobs and growth
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European Union leaders have been meeting in Gothenburg for a summit on promoting fair jobs and growth at which Brexit was a major talking point.
Speaking on arrival in the Swedish city on Friday, European Commission chief Jean Claude Juncker said Britain must do more work to clinch a deal by December that will move Brexit talks on to the next phase dealing with trade.
Swedish Prime Minister Stefan Lofven urged Britain to clarify how much it will pay the European Union as part of its financial settlement on leaving the bloc.
Lofven, who held talks on Thursday with British Prime Minister Theresa May, said, "We all hope that we can decide on the next phase but we still have some way to go."
He also raised doubts about whether the Brexit talks will be able to move on to future relations and trade in December as hoped.
As she arrived at the summit, Theresa May repeated that Britain would honor its commitments but wanted to move forward to talks on trade.
Britain is due to leave the EU on March 29, 2019, but it must complete the complex and unprecedented departure process by next October so that parliaments can ratify any agreement.
Source(s): AP